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Publislaea bj Hj. V.cao- Eallimore. 



SOME ACCOUNT 

OF 

GENERAL JACKSON, 

DRAWN UP FROM 

1 

THE HON. MR. EATON'S 

VERY CIRCUjyiSTJJVTLiL J\rAREATIVE, 

AND OTHER WEI.L-ESTAELISIIED INFORMATION RES- 
PECTING HIM. 



Ha) cT ^etttlfman nC t!ir aialtfmorr i^ar. 



Ue has done the States some service and ihei/ knorv it," 



BALTIMORE : 
PUBLISHED BY HENRY VICARY5 

Pratt St. near Hanover Market. 

-o- 

1828. 
Matchett,prir.r. 



PROLEGOMENA. 



Considering that a new book, which pro- 
fesses to detail the eventful history of a person 
eminently distinguished and actively employed in 
high national atfairs, cannot decently present it- 
self to public attention without some preliminary 
exposition of the spirit wherein it was compiled; 
I may be permitted to say, that I have honestly 
endeavoured to set forth a just and fair account 
of the transactions which I relate; and, (however 
adventitiously extended may be its circulation 
throup^h the interest arising from the crisis,) the 
work builds on its fidelity and literary merit 
alone, whatever pretensions it may have to a 
kind reception. 

The Honourable Mr. Eaton, mentioned in the 
Title page, has enjoyed, a familiar intercourse 
with General Jackson for many years, and has 
long been commissioned to exert a senatorial 
voice in the councils of the nation. He must, 
herefore, be deemed a voucher that scorns to de- 
ceive, and cannot be himself misled. Mr. Eaton 
ascribes one third of his book to the pen of 
the late Major Reid, formerly the generars ac- 



Vlll 

compllshed Aid-de-camp and most confidential 
friend. Their joint performance, constituting 
more than 400 octavo pages, unfolds to the his- 
torical eye, a great deal of interesting matter, 
with simplicity and grace. 

THE AUTHOR. 

4t^ February, 1828. 



In a first impression, it is reasonable to ex- 
pect some few misprints: but dependence is 
rested on the courtesy of the liberal reader. 



MEMOIRS, &c 



CHAPTER I. 
The GeneraVs Descent — Bwth and 
Education — his Jlppointment in 
the Service of his Country. 

The parents of General Jacksou 
took leave of their native land in the 
year 1765; and repairing to America, 
embarked for Charleston in South 
Carolina, where they arrived in safe- 
ty with their two children, Hugh and 
Robert. Mr. Andrew Jackson, our 
hero's father, was a younger son of 
his family ; a family which, for many 
generations, bore high respectability 
in the North of Ireland. The mater- 
nal grandfather of our General, sus- 
tained the signal blockade of Car- 
rickfergus, which took place during 
the civil wars of Ireland ; and is said 
to have distinguished himself upon 
that occasion by his intrepidity and 



8 

firmness, and to have been himself 
no less distinguished by his vohmta- 
ry sufferings. In those days, Carrick- 
fergus was the emporium of the 
North- West trade of Ireland, but its 
commerce has been for many years 
on the wane, and of late all business 
of importance in that quarter, has 
been transacted in the flourishing 
town of Belfast. It is still, however, 
the place of holding assizes for the 
county, and it returns one member 
to Parliament. 

As soon as Mr. Jackson had res- 
pired from the fatigues of his passage, 
(navigation being in those times, ex- 
tremely tedious and uncomfortable,) 
he cast his eyes around him to select 
a suitable location for an establish- 
ment, with the discreet soHcitude of 
a man who had before him the pros- 
pect of a rising family. He finally 
resolved to settle in the country, and 
turn his attention to agricultural pur- 



9 

suits. With this view he purchased 
a tract of fertile soil in the Waxsaw 
settlement, about forty-five miles from 
Camden. Removing thither with 
Mrs. Jackson and his two infant 
children, he tended the cultivation of 
his farm with assiduity and success. 
In the endearing converse of his do- 
mestic society, however small, he en- 
joyed an ample relaxation from his 
toils, being a tender and affectionate 
husband and father. At this peace- 
ful and pleasant retirement, on the 
fifteenth of March, 1767, Mrs. Jack- 
son presented to her adopted coun- 
try its future protector, for on that 
day our illustrious General first saw 
the light. 

Of the beginning stages of his life, 
we have no accounts, which particu- 
larise the character of his infancy. 
All observation of the sort, however 
interesting now, has perished amid 
the gloom, which Divine Providence 



10 

was pleased to draw around his ear- 
ly childhood. Soon after the birth 
of Andrew, (for his father had made 
him his own namesake,) Mr. Jack- 
son was visited with a sudden illness, 
which terminated in the dissolution 
of that worthy man. 

This was a sad affliction, and it 
tried severely, Mrs. Jackson's firm- 
ness of mind. But Mrs. Jackson 
was a very rational, as well as a very 
tender woman. She was sensible 
that pressing duties had now de- 
volved upon her, and that a mother's 
care had a rightful claim to intrude 
upon the disconsolations of her me- 
lancholy widowhood. The world she 
had to contend with, was full of 
selfishness, dissimulation and fraud : 
but she hoped by industry and pru- 
dence, to meet the difficulties of her 
situation — confiding in the father of 
all, who promises, that He icill es- 
tablish the border of the widoiv. 



11 

Hugh and Robert being intended 
to follow the plainer avocations of 
Ufe, were prepared at a country 
school for the transaction of ordinary 
business. But Andrew, his mother 
having designed him for the pulpit, 
was placed under the tuition of Mr. 
Humphries, who taught young gen- 
tlemen at the Waxsaw Meeting House 
the Greek and Latin tongues, and 
whose attainments and gentlemanly 
principles, qualified him, in a supe- 
rior degree, for the care and in- 
struction of boys. With him he con- 
tinued to prosecute his studies until 
he attained the age of fourteen. 
About this time, the conflict between 
exaction and resistance had confirm- 
ed itself into actual and sanguinary 
war, and the universal perturbation 
confounding all things and destroy- 
ing each milder form of human em- 
ployment, had, of course, interrupt- 
ed the cuhivation of the muses.— 



o* 



12 

Amongst others who burned with 
the martial ardour of the times, it is 
not astonishing that Hugh, the eld- 
est brother, should glow with the sa- 
cred fire. This promising youth be- 
ing present at the battle of Stono, 
over-exertion on the field, combining 
with the heat of the day, threw him 
into a fever that brought him, pre- 
maturely, to the grave. 

Mrs. Jackson had an hereditary 
bias towards the assertion of civil 
rights, and the loss of her valiant boy 
in his opening bloom, diminished but 
little the interest she felt in the 
cause. She had besides her two 
surviving sons actively engaged in the 
service of their country. No object, 
therefore, lay nearer to her heart 
than to alleviate the distresses of the 
jBuffering patriots. Their clothing 
and comfort employed her sedulous 
attention. But while she adminis- 
tered to the health of otliers, she ua- 



IS 

happily neglected her own. The 
labour she underwent and intensely 
plied, was too fatiguing for her deli- 
cate frame. So that upon the death 
of Robert, this most excellent mo- 
ther, was able to withstand her com- 
plicated misery but a few weeks. 
She expired in the vicinity of the 
British lines within a short distance 
of Charleston, leaving to her young- 
est son, a collection of moral pre- 
cepts, which are still treasured up in 
his memory with fond remembrance, 
for, it is said, that our General never 
seems so cordially satisfied with an ' 
opinion, as when it happens to be 
after his mother's manner of thinking. 
The circumstances of Robert's 
death are thus related by Major Reid: 
the Americans being unequal, as 
well from the inferiority of their num- 
bers, as their discipline, to engage 
the British army in battle, had retir- 
ed before it, into the interior of North 



14 

Carolina ; but when they learned that 
Lord Cornwallis had crossed the Yad- 
kin, they returned in small detach- 
ments to their native state. On their 
arrival, they found Lord Rawdon in 
possession of Camden, and the whole 
country round in a state of desola- 
tion. The British commander being 
advised of the return of the settlers 
of Waxsaw, Major Coffin was imme- 
diately despatched thither, with a 
corps of light dragoons, a company 
of infantry, and a considerable num- 
ber of tories, for their capture and 
destruction. Hearing of their ap- 
proach, the settlers, without delay, 
appointed the Waxsaw Meeting 
House as a place of rendezvous, that 
they might the better collect their 
scattered strength, and concert some 
system of operations. About forty 
of them had accordingly assembled 
at this point, when the enemy ap- 
proached, keeping the tories, who 



15 

were dressed in the coinnion apparel 
of the country, in front, whereby this 
httle band of patriots was completely 
deceived, having taken them for Cap- 
tain Nisbet's company, in expecta- 
tion of which they had been waiting. 
Eleven of them were taken prison- 
ers; the rest with difficulty fled, 
scattering and betaking themselves 
to the woods for concealment. Ro- 
bert and Andrew were among the 
number of those who eflfected their 
escape. A creek happened to be at 
hand, a secret bend of which they 
entered, and there lay in safety 
through the night. But the next 
day having called at a house to get 
some nourishment, they fastened 
their horses by the side of a small 
creek, and unluckily a party of tories 
passing that way, seized upon their 
horses together with their baggage, 
and approaching the house by stealth, 
for they suspected to find the riders 



16 

there, Robert and Andrew were sur- 
prised and taken. Being placed un- 
der guard, Andrew was ordered in a 
surly tone to clean the boots of a Bri- 
tish officer which had become muddy 
from crossing the creek. Andrew in 
a spirited manner, spurning the im- 
perious order, declared his right to 
expect the usage that should betide 
a prisoner of war. The officer en- 
raged at his refusal, drew his sword 
and aimed a blow at his head, but 
throwing up his left hand he parried 
off the sword, receiving, however, a 
gash so severe in his hand, that it 
retains the scar till this very day. 
His brother being at the same time 
ordered to do a like menial office, 
and, like Andrew, scorning obedi- 
ence, a wound was inflicted on his 
head. They were now carried to 
jail, where, put into separate confine- 
ment, they were treated with the ut- 
most rigour. After the battle before 



17 

Camden, they were both released, 
through the interference of their mo- 
ther, and Captain Walker of the mi- 
litia. In a charge upon the rear of 
the British army, Captain Walker 
had succeeded in making thirteen 
prisoners, whom he exchanged for 
seven Americans, among whom were 
Andrew and his brother. But Ro- 
bert's wound having remained un- 
dressed during the whole time he 
was kept in jail, contracted an in- 
flammation, which baffled all subse- 
quent attempts to stop the rapid pro- 
gress of its mortality. 

Apart altogether from our antici- 
pated idea of his future eminence, 
the friendless orphan awakens our 
concern for his welfare, and strongly 
engages our interest in the future 
destinies of the lad. 

Want of forethought, congenial to 
his years, suffered his patrimonial es- 
tate to decay from little to less, and 



18 

at last to dwindle into nothing. He 
had good sense enough, however, to 
resume his classical pursuits ; and 
under Mr. M'Culloch, near Hill's Iron 
Works, he read for some time with 
diligence and success, and by his in- 
dustrious application, so improved his 
mind, that conceiving himself suffi- 
ciently advanced in general know- 
ledge to devote his attention to one 
of the learned professions, he enter- 
ed the library of Mr. Spruce M^Cay, 
of Salisbury, in North Carolina. — 
Here, after a preparation of two 
years, he was admitted to practice, 
in the winter of 1786. 

The western parts of the state of 
Tennessee being represented as 
opening a field for the prosperous 
exertions of the enterprising, he re- 
paired thither; and fixed his resi- 
dence at Nashville. In a short time 
he acquired such a standing at the 
bar that he was appointed Attorney 
General for the District. 



19 

In 1796, he was chosen a member 
of the convention that met to frame 
a constitution for the state. Before 
the expiration of the same year, he 
was elected to the House of Repre- 
sentatives in Congress, without so- 
Hcitation. And to crown his prefer- 
ment, the state was so impressed 
with a conviction of his great merit 
and value that he was raised, the 
year ensuing, to the Senate of the 
United States. He did not hold his 
seat long in the Senate, dissatisfied 
with the aristocratical politics of the 
day ; but previous to his resignation, 
confirmed his republican character, 
by voting for a repeal of the alien and 
stamp acts, — bills which excjted the 
indignation of all true repubhcans. 

Upon the death of General Con- 
way, the field officers of the military 
division of the state, without any pre- 
vious intimation to him on the subject, 
chose our General to fill the vacancy. 



20 

He continued to hold the post until 
May, 1814, when the administration 
called upon his activity, and he was 
complimented with the rank of a 
Major General in the service of the 
United States. 

Scarcely had he resigned his seat 
in the Senate, when he was nomi- 
nated one of the judges of the Su- 
preme Court of the state. But, find- 
ing the office not only arduous but 
ungrateful, he withdrew from the 
bench, and retired to the sweets of 
his rural occupations, and the enjoy- 
ment of his beloved society. 

The war, however, which the 
United States was forced to declare 
against^Great Britain, drew him forth 
again to public life. He was con- 
scious of possessing great military 
talents, and his patriotism would not 
suffer him to sit with folded hands. 



21 

CHAPTER II. 
Depredations andjyiurders comiml- 
ted by the Savages — the GeneraVs 
Conflicts ivith them — a full Ac- 
count of the Battle of the Horse- 
shoe. 

Of all the Indian tribes, that of the 
Creeks had attained the greatest 
consequence in the sight of govern- 
ment, being the most formidable 
body, whether considered with res- 
pect to number, adroitness, intellect- 
ual sagacity, or boldness of resolu- 
tion. The restless turn of mind, 
which is the general character of sa- 
vage communities, gave just ground 
for alarm, and elicited the warv vim- 
lance of the administration. Several 
isolated cases of individual murder 
had frequently occurred along the 
confines of the white settlements ; 
but, notwithstanding, as the spirit of 
the Creeks appeared, on the whole. 



22 

I 

to be animated with a friendly dis- 
position towards the United States, 
no vigourous measures, on the part 
of the nation, were deemed necessary 
to be adopted. In the spring of 1812, 
Tecumseh became a leading man 
amongst the Shawnees. Tecumseh 
was hberally endowed by nature. 
He was bold, spirited, and implaca- 
ble. No perils could daunt him, and 
even disappointment only roused his 
energies to fresh exertion. These 
mental qualities inhabited a form ex- 
act in its symmetry, constructed to 
endure fatigue, adapted to perform 
deeds of might, and yet pliant in 
every motion ; and, withal, he pos- 
sessed a commanding air and stately 
mien. Appropriately suited to the 
times which called him out, he trod 
the stage of action with the easy con- 
fidence of a performer who knows 
his part and has no rival to rebuke 
his genius. This extraordinary per- 



23 

son met an end homogeneous with 
his character. He expired on that 
favourite couch of the warrior — the 
field of battle ; — sunk beneath the 
pressure of physical superiority and 
exhausted by the weariness of his 
own slaughter, he fell in the conflict 
of the Thames, wherein darkness 
overspread his eyes, after achieving 
feats of gallantry that might well re- 
flect lustre on a better cause. 

The northern tribes had recently 
formed a coalition to invade the New 
England states, with the aspiring 
view of extirpating, en masse, the in- 
habitants, or, at least, of driving them 
all out of the country. And as in 
large combinations of people united 
for the purpose of bringing round a 
momentous change, the general sen- 
timent that pervades the whole, not 
unfrequently makes a peculiar im- 
pression on a few men of parts and 

boldness above the common, and 

3* 



24 

lifts their ambition higher than its 
native pitch, so when this project en- 
tertained by the tribes of the North 
began to break the shell, there arose 
amongst them an adventurous hier- 
arch, who assumed to himself the 
appellation of prophet, and affected 
to be in the special confidence of the 
"Great Spirit." He delivered his 
predictions with awful pomp and 
gravity, according with the tremen- 
dovis attributes of his holy office, and 
so artfully worked upon the gloomy 
fancies of his followers, and their su- 
perstitious hopes, that, by anticipa- 
tion, they already saw the rivers dyed 
with the blood of the slain, and the 
useful labours of the oxen superceded 
by the hunting range of the forester. 
This wily prophet had for his bro- 
ther the renowned Tecumseh. 

The prophet enlarging his view 
from the mere devastation of the 
northern districts, embraced the idea 



25 

of subjugating the regions of the 
South, and thereby making one total 
extermination of the white people 
throughout the Union. In pursuance 
of this extensive plan of operation, 
Tecumseh was despatched to the 
Greeks, commissioned by the red 
brethren of the North to lay the pro- 
phet's overtures before them, and to 
enforce his application with the splen- 
did assurance of that sacred person- 
age, the celebrity of whose name 
could not fail to produce a most pow- 
erful effect upon them. But, what- 
ever might have been the success of 
Tecumseh's embassy, upon this oc- 
casion, certain it is, that he quitted 
their territory after no long stay, and 
addressed his proposals to the Indian 
tribes that occupied the hunting 
lands which skirted the Alabama ter- 
ritory. The tribes, on the precincts 
of Alabama, had perpetrated some 
outrages, calculated to awaken the 



26 

most serious apprehensions of the 
settlers. But a terrible blow, which 
they struck soon after the dissemina- 
tion of the prophet's doctrine, ex- 
cited consternation in every bosom, 
and left the necessity of instantly re- 
sorting to effective measures no long- 
er doubtful to the state executive of 
Tennessee. The barbarous slaugh- 
ter of the garrison of Fort Mimms, 
and the brutal massacre of the help- 
less women and children who had 
made it their asylum, and flocked to 
it in great numbers, — penetrated by 
the terror which the report of divers 
atrocities had diffused through all 
the sequestered families that were 
settled in the proximity of the fron- 
tiers. Fort Mimms has its location 
in Tensaw, one of the Mississippi 
settlements ; — the fortress was erect- 
ed there, most likely, on account of 
the eligibility of its position for the 
defence of the first, and, therefore. 



27 

distant settlers of that territory, and 
not because the place furnished any 
peculiar advantages of nature to au- 
thorize its being chosen for the scite 
of a fortified castle. Be that as it 
may, Fort Mimms was carried by as- 
sault after a fruitless resistance. — 
The besiegers numbered in their 
rank from six to seven hundred, suf- 
ficiently appointed for the purpose of 
executing their object. Their mu- 
nitions of war they procured at Pen- 
sacola, and from the quantity with 
which they were furnished in that 
city, the circumstance could not 
have escaped the knowledge of the 
governor of Florida, a consideration 
that illustrates obscurely enough the 
sincerity in which the Spanish autho- 
rities made thei r professions of friend- 
ship towards the United States. The 
garrison mustered about one hun- 
dred and fifty men, and the women, 
children and invalids amounted to 



28 

the like number. Upon the entrance 
of the merciless victors, a scene of 
heart-rending carnage took place. 
Havoc was unsparingly dealt on all 
sides. The air resounded with the 
cries of the young, the shrieks of the 
women, and the frightful yells of the 
butchering savages. Out of three 
hundred Christian souls, barely se- 
venteen, with much ado, escaped 
alive to report the melancholy tidings. 
The inhabitants of Tennessee were 
struck with amazement and dismay. 
A convention of citizens was formal- 
ly held in Nashville on the eighteenth 
of September, about four weeks after 
the perpetration of this calamitous 
affair. Groups, with tears in their 
eyes and horror on their counte- 
nances, surrounded the hearthstone 
of every house, and, whatever might 
be spoken, they could think of nothing 
else but Fort Mimms, and the rueful 
massacre. They could not but de- 



29 

ploie the cruel torments and unpre* 
pared deaths of their fellow Chris- 
tians, nor anticipate their own des- 
tinies without forebodings the most 
discouraging and afflictive. Mean- 
while the members of the Legislature 
assembled together, and with all 
speed a bill was introduced, and as 
cordially passed, authorizing the go- 
vernor to call out, for active service, 
three thousand five hundred men; 
and, lest provision, sufficiently ample, 
should not be made by the general 
government for the subsistence and 
equipment of such a force, the sum 
of three hundred thousand dollars 
was assigned for that object. 

All eyes were now turned to Gene- 
ral Jackson, as the most prominent 
military man in Tennessee, and who 
possessed, if any man did, the quali- 
fications of an officer adequate to di- 
rect this critical and hazardous un- 
dertaking, and to bring it to a happy 



30 

issue. The General, besides, had 
gained the good will and esteem of 
the militia by his personal attention 
to their comforts and welfare in the 
expedition to Natchez, and the proofs 
he had given of his devotion to their 
interests and the vindication of their 
rights. The deepest concern was, 
therefore, evinced by people in every 
stage of life, when it was understood 
that he was seriously indisposed, and 
even confined to his chamber. Be- 
ing, however, determined on the good 
of his country, and conceiving him- 
self imperiously summoned to the 
field by the trying emergencies of the 
time, and so, to the great joy of his 
fellow citizens, declaring his resolu- 
tion to assume the character of a sol- 
dier, and undergo the toils of war, 
notwithstanding his indisposition ; 
he, in obedience to the governor's or- 
ders, directed two thousand of the 
militia, attached to his division, to 



31 

rendezvous at Fayetteville, duly pre- 
pared for actual service. Although 
many difficulties obstructed the mi- 
litia, yet by using great exertions and 
bringing all their resources into ac- 
tivity, they contrived, however im- 
perfectly, to execute the GeneraFs 
wishes, and rendezvous at Fayette- 
ville, by the fourth of October, (the 
time of muster prescribed.) A few 
days elapsed before the Genera! was 
physically strong enough to repair to 
the army ; a delay, which, were it 
not for the painful necessity that pro- 
duced it, there had been no cause to 
regret, since it afforded an opportu- 
nity to the Genera!, during the inter- 
im, of laying before his troops a writ- 
ten, and, therefore, somewhat more 
solemn, exposition of those princi- 
ples and sentiments which he ex- 
pected would guide their conduct and 
actuate their perseverance, through 
the scenes they were approaching, of 



32 

difficulty and danger. Major Reid, 
liis Aid-de-camp, arriving amongst 
them on the day fixed for the ren- 
dezvous, was bearer of an address, 
in which the General says : — 

" We are about to furnish these 
savages a lesson of admonition ; we 
are about to teach them, that our long 
forbearance has not proceeded from 
an insensibility to wrongs, or an ina- 
bility to redress them. They stand 
in need of such warning. In pro- 
portion as we have borne with their 
insults, and submitted to their out- 
rages, they have multiplied in num- 
ber and increased in atrocity. But 
the measure of their offences is at 
length filled. The blood of our wo- 
men and children, recently spilled at 
Fort Mimms, calls for our vengeance, 
it must not call in vain. Our borders 
must not, any longer, be disturbed 
by the war whoops of these savages, 
or the cries of their suffering victims. 



33 

The torch which has been hghted up 
must be made to blaze in the heart 
of their own country. It is time they 
should be made to feel the weight of 
a power, which, because it was mer- 
ciful, they believed to be impotent. 
But how shall a war so long forborne, 
and so loudly called for by retributive 
justice, be waged ? Shall we imi- 
tate the example of our enemies, in 
the disorder of their movements and 
the savageness of their dispositions. 
Is it worthy the character of Ameri- 
can soldiers, who take up arms to 
redress the wrongs of an injured 
country, to assume no better model 
than that furnished them by barba- 
rians ? No ! Fellow soldiers ; great 
as are the grievances that have called 
us from our homes, we must not per- 
mit disorderly passions to tarnish the 
reputation we shall carry along with 
us ; — we must and will be victorious; 
but we must conquer as men who 



34 

owe nothing to chance, and who, in 
the midst of victory, can still be mind- 
ful of what is due to himianity. 

*^ We will commence the campaign 
by an inviolable attention to discip- 
line and subordination. Without a 
strict observance of these, victory 
must ever be uncertain and ought 
hardly to be exulted in, even when 
gained. To what but to the entire 
disregard of order and subordination, 
are we to ascribe the disasters, which 
have attended our arms in the North, 
during the present war ? How glo- 
rious will it be to remove the blots 
which have tarnished the fair charac- 
ter bequeathed us by the fathers of 
our revolution. The bosom of your 
General is full of hope. He knows 
the ardour which animates you, and 
already exults in the triumph which 
your strict observance of discijiline 
and good order will render certain/' 



35 

After giving this tender admoni- 
tion to the troops, the General pro- 
ceeded to lay down what rules of con- 
duet were to be followed ; rightly con- 
sidering that it was an easier task to 
hinder the introduction of irregulari- 
ties into the camp, than to banish them 
from it after being introduced. The 
injunctions appeared rigid enough to 
the soldiers, who were but httle habi- 
tuated to military discipline, and had 
yet to learn, that there was any wis- 
dom in the policy which proscribed 
the enjoyment of free conversation 
during parade. 

But the most alarming and critical 
difficulty which fell to the General's 
troubled lot in dealing with the 
hearts of the men, sprung from the 
excessive scarcity, if not total dearth, 
of provisions, which threatened to vi- 
sit them. To avert a calamity so 
fearful in itself, and no less fearfully 
portended, he exhibited spirit andun» 

4# 



36 

remitting industry, honourable alike 
to his character, both as a public ser- 
vant and private citizen. His heart 
was set upon the consummation of 
the great object which lay before him 
to accomplish, and was at the same 
time deeply affected by the dreary 
prospect he had of enabling the men 
to undergo the fatigues which were 
about to await them. To every 
quarter he made application. The 
governors of the states were admon* 
ished of the dreadful consequences 
to the inhabitants, if the army was 
suffered to fall in pieces, by an insuf- 
ficient supply of the first necessaries 
of life. From all, he received as- 
surances of relief, and, doubtless, 
they were made with equal sincerity, 
but still the actual assistance furnish- 
ed by any was extremely feeble. 

But, notwithstanding this defalca- 
tion, his resolution to proceed at 
once against the enemy no longer wa- 



37 

vered, upon learning that the hostile 
Indians of nine towns had embodied 
in great force, and were advancing to 
attack the friendly tribes of the 
Creeks and those of the Cherokees ; 
a chief of the latter having dispatch- 
ed two runners to the General's en- 
campment to communicate this in- 
telligence, which admitted of no al- 
ternative. Making, thereupon, a cur- 
tailed distribution of the supplies on 
hand, he instantly prepared to bear 
upon the savages before they should, 
by becoming the invaders, acquire 
that energetic ferocity with which the 
very thought of being in those cir- 
cumstances, was calculated to inspire 
them. Accordingly he directed the 
runners of the Cherokee prince to 
acquaint their chief pf his intention, 
and desired that all vigilance should 
be exerted to discover the projected 
movements of the enemy, their 
strength and positions, giving his as- 



88 

surance that he would be himself at 
the Coosa without delay. 

Upon this interesting occasion he 
addressed his troops in these terms : 
" You have, fellow soldiers, at length 
penetrated the country of your ene- 
mies. It is not to be believed that 
they will abandon the soil that em- 
bosoms the bones of their forefathers, 
without furnishing you an opportuni- 
ty of signalizing your valour. Wise 
men do not expect ; brave men do 
not desire it. It was not to travel 
unmolested, through a barren wilder- 
ness, that you quitted your families 
and homes, and submitted to so many 
privations : it was to avenge the cru- 
elties committed upon our defence- 
less frontiers, by the inhuman Creeks, 
instigated by their no less inhuman al^ 
lies ; you shall not be disappointed. 
If the enemy flee before us, we will 
overtake and chastise him ; we will 
teach him how dreadful, when once 



89 

aroused is the resentment of freemen. 
But it is not by boasting that punish- 
ment is to be inflicted, or victory ob- 
tained. The same resolution that 
prompted us to take up arms, must 
inspire us in battle. Men thus ani- 
mated, and thus resolved, barbarians 
can never conquer ; and it is an ene- 
my barbarous in the extreme, that 
we have now to face. Their reliance 
will be on the damage they can do 
you, whilst you are asleep and un- 
prepared for action: their hopes shall 
fail thevn in the hour of experiment. 
Soldiers who know their duty, and 
are ambitious to perform it, are not 
to be taken by surprize. Our senti- 
nels will never sleep, nor our soldiers 
be unprepared for action: yet, whilst 
it is enjoined upon the sentinels vigil- 
antly to watch the approach of the foe, 
they are at the same time commanded 
nottofireat shadows. Imaginary dan- 
ger must not deprive them of entire 



40 

self-possession. Our soldiers will lie 
with arms in their hands: and the mo- 
ment an alarm is given, they will 
move to their respective positions, 
without noise and without confusion ; 
they will be thus enabled to hear the 
orders of their officers, and to obey 
them with promptitude. 

" Great reliance will be placed by 
the enemy on the consternation they 
may be able to spread through our 
ranks by the hideous yells with which 
they commence their battles ; but 
brave men will laugh at such efforts 
to alarm them. It is not by bellow- 
ings and screams that the wounds of 
death are inflicted. You will teach 
these noisy assailants how weak are 
their weapons of warfare by oppos- 
ing them with the bayonet ; what In- 
dian ever withstood its charge? What 
army, of any nation, ever withstood 
it long? 



41 

"Yes soldiers, the order for a 
charge will be the signal for victory. 
In that moment your enemy will be 
seen fleeing in every direction before 
you. But in the moment of action, 
coolness and deliberation must be 
regarded ; your fires made with pre- 
cision and aim ; and when ordered 
to charge with the bayonet, you must 
proceed to the assault with a quick, 
and firm step ; without trepidation or 
alarm. Then shall you behold the 
completion of your hopes, in the dis- 
comfiture of your enemy. Your Ge- 
neral, whose duty, as well as inclina- 
tion, is to watch over your safety, will 
not, to gratify any wishes of his own, 
rush you unnecessarily into danger. 
He knows, however, that it is not in 
assailing an enemy that men are de- 
stroyed; it is when in retreating, and 
in confusion. Aware of this, he will 
be prompted as much by a regard to 
your lives as your honour. He la- 



42 

ments that he has been compelled, 
even incidentally, to hint at a retreat 
vhen speaking to freemen, and to 
soldiers. Never, until you forget all 
that is due to yourselves and your 
country, will you have any practical 
understanding of that word. Shall 
an enemy, wholly unacquainted with 
military evolution, and who rely more 
for victory on their grim visages and 
hideous yells than upon their bravery 
or their weapons — shall such an ene- 
my ever drive before them the well 
trained youths of our country, whose 
bosoms pant for glory, and a desire to 
avenge the wrongs they have receiv- 
ed ? Your General will not live to 
behold such a spectacle; rather would 
he rush into the thickest of the ene- 
my, and submit himself to their scalp- 
ing knives ; but he has no fears of 
such a result. He knows the valour 
of the men he commands, and how 
certainly that valour, regulated as it 



43 

will be, will lead to victory. With 
his soldiers he will face all dangers, 
and with them participate in the glo- 
ry of conquest." 

The General still continuing his 
route towards the Coosa, learned, by a 
party which had been sent out to pro- 
cure corn and cattle, that the Indians 
were collected together in a large 
body in the town called Tallushat- 
chee, which lies on the south side of 
that river, at a distance of thirteen 
miles. Nine hundred men were de- 
tached under Gener il Coffee, for the 
pur{>ose of dispersing them, and these 
having, with some difficulty, crossed 
the Coosa, brought the war party to 
action ; in which engagement the 
troops, after a most obstinate resist- 
ance, were completely successful. 

The chief strength of the Creeks 
being understood to have its concen- 
tration close to the entrance of the 
5 



44 

Tallapoosa river into the Coosa, the 
General directed his view to this 
quarter. Proposing to march against 
them, he fortified a suitable spot 
wherein to lodge the invalids and bag- 
gage. In the meantime he awaited 
the arrival of the troops of East Ten- 
nessee, but his stay in expectation of 
that reinforcement was interrupted 
by intelligence from Talladega, a fort 
lying about thirty miles further down 
the river, and into which a number 
of the friendly Indians had thrown 
themselves, in order to maintain with 
less insecurity their separation from 
those tribes who were hostile towards 
the United States. To have exposed 
these poor Indians therefore, to fall a 
certain prey to their sanguinary bre- 
thren, would have not only outraged 
the sentiments of humanity, but even 
cast a slur upon the government it- 
self. And so the General marched 
onwards to their protection. Lest 



45 

the wily adversaries by taking a cir- 
cuitous route should attempt the de- 
pot by surprize, he deemed it in- 
cumbent on him to commence the 
onset with despatch; and the Ad- 
jutant-General, in pursuance of or- 
ders, arranged the hue, moving cau- 
tiously ; — the infantry proceeding in 
three columns, the cavalry after the 
same manner, so that the whole could 
be quickly formed in battle array, on 
whatever side the enemy might ap- 
pear. A company of artillerists and 
three others, two of which consisted 
of riflemen, were led about four hun- 
dred yards in front, under the com- 
mand of Colonel Carroll, who was 
instructed to retire upon the main 
centre, as soon as he had drawn the 
Indians into action, that so they might 
be allured to follow him. About 
seven o'clock in the morning, the 
whole army, to the exception of Colo- 
nel Carroll's division, which formed 



4e 

the advance, were drawn up in order 
of combat, at the distance of one 
mile from the enemy. Lieutenant 
Colonel Dyer was stationed behind 
the centre, with two hundred and fif- 
ty of the cavalry, as a corps de re- 
serve. The remainder of the caval- 
ry were disposed respectively on the 
right and left with their rear towards 
the foot, having directions when the 
fit juncture arrived, to wheel in con- 
fronting columns, a manoeuvre calcu- 
lated to bar an escape on the part of 
the enemy. The rest of the army 
had orders to move up by heads of 
companies; the right occupied by 
General Hall's brigade, theleft by the 
brigade of General Roberts. 

About eight o'clock the advance 
having interchanged a volley with the 
Indians, and brought them from their 
position, fell back, as they had been 
directed, upon the centre; while their 
savage foes pursued them with most 



47- -^ 

horrible cries. Their rush was first 
made against the militia of General 
Roberts, of which, two companies 
retreated. To fill up the chasm, 
Jackson was constrained on this 
emergence to resort to the corps de 
reserve, who unhorsing with alacrity 
and supplying the vacuum that had 
been occasioned, sustained the shock 
of the Indians with such boldness and 
resolution, that the militia feeling 
ashamed of their late pusillanimity, 
returned, and by their gallant efforts, 
retrieved their character. The con- 
flict grew extremely animated before 
the Indians exhibited any symptoms 
of an inclination to quit the field. At 
last, however, when they met with a 
severe reception on the left from the 
mounted riflemen, they betook them- 
selves precipitately to the right, where 
in consequence of some indiscretion 
shown by two of the commanding 

5* 



48 

officers, a number made their escape. 
But so hotly was the fighting main- 
tained even after the retreat began, 
that the carnage extended three miles 
from the battle ground. The force 
of the enemy is computed at one 
thousand and eighty, and of this 
amount, a prodigious number were 
slain and wounded; nor did the troops 
of the Union gain a bloodless victory. 
It will be read with satisfaction, that 
the General was highly gratified with 
the conduct of those whom he had 
led to glory. Upon closing his re- 
port of this affair, he took occasion to 
say, " Too much praise cannot be be- 
stowed on the advance, led by Colo- 
nel Carrol, for the spirited manner in 
which they commenced and sustained 
the attack; nor upon the reserve, 
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel 
Dyer, for the gallantry with which 
they met and repulsed the enemy. 
In a word, the officers of every grade. 



49 

and as well the privates, realized the 
high expectations I had formed of 
them, and merit the gratitude of their 
country." 

The friendly Indians who had been 
shut up in the fort of Talladega and 
over whom had hung the well ground- 
ed terror of death, being by means 
of this brilliant success, released 
from their mortal fears, gave the 
strongest indications of gratitude to 
their deliverers, which their scanty 
means enabled them to display. They 
freely shared their small stock of 
cattle, which the General purchasing 
with his own funds, distributed to 
his destitute troops. 

Instead of pursuing the lead of his 
judgment to press forward, and make 
the most of the signal advantages 
which were thus obtained, the Gen- 
eral found himself compelled to 
march back to his former depot, as 
well on account of the scarcity of 



50 

provisions with the troops in Talla- 
dega, as because he had left the de- 
pot but poorly supplied, in the hope 
at his departure, that immediate as- 
sistance would be brought by the 
speedy arrival of the East Tennes- 
see brigade, a hope deplorably mis- 
taken, although it was formed on 
the firmest assurances. Here he had 
the mortification to learn that the 
contractors likewise had failed to 
perform their engagements ; so that 
the utmost want prevailed. A few 
biscuits and some lean beeves pur- 
chased of the Cherokees were all 
that remained. Even his own pri- 
vate stores had been used for the 
nourishment of the sick — which in- 
deed the hospital surgeon had been 
directed so to make use of as the 
General was departing, in case the 
necessities of the sick required it. 

In this wretched state of affairs, 
the General, in order to set a noble 



51 

example, refrained from any distinc- 
tion of diet, and assumed an air of 
cheerfulness amidst the gloom which 
was diffused through an army, con- 
sisting of men, accustomed to hve 
hot and full in the farmer's kitchen. 
It is said, that one morning as he 
was seated beneath the covering of 
a spreading tree, a soldier perceiv- 
ing him intently occupied in eating, 
solicited to have o, part of his relish ; 
the General drew some acorns fron^ 
his pocket, and presenting them to 
the rna«, told him, that he was wel- 
come to partake of his fare, such as 
it was. 

Conduct like this in the command- 
ing officer, tended to stifle the first 
murmurs of complaint, but nothing 
short of the most consummate address 
and management,could allay the spirit 
of discontent, and repress the mutin- 
ous dispositions excited in the camp 
by these trying privations. At one 



52 

time the militia having moved to quit 
the service, and return to their homes, 
the volunteer troops were led forth 
to frustrate their purpose. Again, 
the volunteers were defeated in a simi- 
lar project by the militia, drawn out 
to confront them, and perhaps indeed 
the firmness of the mihtia, is more to 
be attributed to the satisfaction they 
experienced in embracing the oppor- 
tunity of retaliation which was now 
afforded, than to any radical dislike 
they harboured to the scheme of the 
volunteers. These hours of des- 
pondency were agreeably interrupt- 
ed, by the arrival of stores : yet the 
effect produced was only partial and 
temporary, so when at times water 
is thrown upon a blazing fire, its 
flame for a little abates, but still the 
igneous principles remaining undes- 
troyed, these presently renovate their 
force, and raise the flame higher 
than it was before. 



53 

It must indeed be owned, that the 
mihtia enrolled themselves under 
the presumption, that devoting their 
time and labour for the benefit of 
their country, they should be freed 
from the cares and solicitudes of pro- 
viding for the sustenance of life. 
Nevertheless, they had embarked in 
the service of their own inheritance. 
And surely it behoved them to en- 
dure much for the sake of the cause ; 
to struggle with many difficulties, 
undergo many hardships, be resign- 
ed amidst affliction and patient in 
distress. 

The governor of Tennessee found 
so many obstacles in the way of 
furnishing an effective body for the 
prosecution of the campaign, that he 
recommended the enterprize to be 
for the present laid aside, and that 
no movement should be made until 
advice was obtained from the gener- 
al government. In reply to his 



54 

views upon the subject, General 
Jackson remarked:—-" Had your wish 
that 1 should discharge a part of my 
force, and retire with the residue 
into the settlements, assumed the 
form of a positive order, it might 
have furnished me some apology for 
pursuing such a course ; but by no 
means a full justification. As you 
would have no power to give such an 
order, I could not be inculpable in 
obeying with my eyes open to the 
fatal consequences that would attend 
it. But a bare recommendation, 
founded, as I am satisfied it must be, 
on the artful suggestions of those 
fire-side patriots, who seek in a 
failure of the expedition, an excuse 
for their own supineness ; and upon 
the misrepresentations of the dis- 
contented from the army, who wish 
it to be believed, that the difficulties 
\^iiich overcame their patriotism, are 
wholly insurmountable ; would afford 



55 

me but a feeble shield against the 
reproaches of my country or my 
conscience. Believe me, my respect- 
ed friend, the remarks I make, pro- 
ceed from the purest personal re- 
gard. If you would preserve your 
reputation, or that of the state over 
which you preside, you must take a 
straight forward determined course ; 
regardless of the applause or cen- 
sure of the populace, and of the 
fore1)odings of that dastardly and 
designing crew, who at a time like 
this, may be expected to clamour 
continually in your ears. The very 
wretches, who now beset you with 
evil counsel, will be the first, should 
the measures which they recommend 
eventuate in disaster, to call down 
imprecations on your head, and load 
you with reproaches. Your country 
is in danger: — apply its resources to 
its defence ! Can any course be 

6 



56 

more plain ? Do you, my friend, at 
such a moment as the present, sit 
with your arms folded, and your 
heart at ease, waiting a solution of 
your douhts, and a definition of your 
powers ? Do you wait for special 
instructions from the secretary at 
war, which it is impossible for you 
to receive in time for the danger that 
threatens ? How did the venerable 
Shelby act, under similar circumstan- 
ces ; or rather under circumstances 
by no means so critical ? Did he wait 
for orders to do what every man of 
sense knew — what every patriot felt, 
to be right ? He did not ; and yet 
how highly and justly did the govern- 
ment extol his manly and energetic 
conduct ! And how dear has his 
name become to every friend of his 
country ! 

" You say that an order to bring 
the necessary quota of men into the 
field has been given, and that of 



57 

course your power ceases ; and al~ 
tliougli you are made sensible that 
the order has been wholly neglected, 
you can take no measure to remedy 
the omission. Widely different in- 
deed is my opinion. I consider it 
your imperious duty, when the men 
called for by your authority, founded 
upon that of the government, are 
known not to be in the field, to see 
that they be brought there ; and to 
take immediate measures with the 
officer, who, charged with the exe- 
cution of your order, omits or ne- 
glects to do it. As the executive of 
the state, it is your duty to see that 
the full quota of troops be constant- 
ly kept in the field, for the time they 
have been required. You are res- 
ponsible to the government; your 
officer to you. Of what avail is it to 
give an order, if it be never executed, 
and may be disobeyed with impuni- 
ty ? Is it by empty mandates that we 



can hope to conquer our enemies, 
and save our defenceless frontiers 
from butchery and devastation ? Be- 
lieve me my valued friend, there are 
times vihen it is highly criminal to 
!»>hrink from responsibility, or scruple 
about the exercise of our powers. 
There are times when we must disre- 
gard punctilious etiquette, and think 
only of saving our country. What is 
really our present situation ? The 
enemy we have been sent to subdue, 
may be said if we stop at this, to be 
only exasperated. The commander 
in chief, General Pinkney, who sup- 
poses me at this time prepared for 
renewed operations, has ordered me 
to advance, and form a junction with 
the Georgia army ; and upon the ex- 
pectation that I will do so, are all his 
arrangements formed for the prose- 
cution of the campaign. Will it do 
to defeat his plans, and jeopardize 
the safety of the Georgia army ? The 



59 

general government too, believe, and 
have a right to beheve, that we have 
now not less than five thousand men 
in the heart of the enemy's country, 
and on this opinioa are all their cal- 
culations bottomed ; and must they 
all be frustrated, and I become the 
instrument by which it is done ? 
God forbid ! 

''You advise me to discharge or 
dismiss from service, nntil the will of 
the President can be known, such 
portion of the militia as have render- 
ed three months' service. This ad- 
vice astonishes me, even more than 
the former. I have no such discre- 
tionary power ; and if I had, it would 
be impolitic and ruinous to exercise 
it. I believed the militia who were 
not specially received for a shorter 
period, were engaged for six months, 
unless the objects of the expedition 

should be sooner attained ; and in 

6* 



60 

this opinion I was greatly strength- 
ened by your letter of the 15th, in 
which you say, when answering my 
inquiry upon this subject, ' the mili- 
tia are detached for six months' ser- 
vice,' — nor did I luiow or suppose, 
you had a different opinion, until the 
arrival of your last letter. This 
opinion must I suppose agreeably to 
vour request be made known to Gen- 
eral Roberts's brigade, and then the 
consequences are not difficult to be 
foreseen. Every man belonging to 
it will abandon me on the 4th of 
next month ; nor shall I have the 
means of preventing it, but by the 
application of force, which under 
such circumstances, I shall not be at 
liberty to use. I haye laboured hard 
to reconcile these men to a continu- 
ance in service until they could be hon- 
ourably discharged, and had hoped 
I had, in a great measure succeeded ; 
but your opinion operating with their 



61 

own prejudices, will give a sanction 
to their conduct, and render useless 
any farther attempts. They will 
go ; but I can neither discharge nor 
dismiss them. Shall I be told that 
as they will go, it may as well be 
peaceably permitted ; can that be 
any good reason why I should do an 
unauthorized act ? Is it a good rea- 
son why I should violate the order of 
my superior officer, and evince a wil- 
lingness to defeat the purposes of 
my government ? And wherein does 
the sound policy of the measures 
which have been recommended con- 
sist ? Or in what way are they like- 
ly to promote the jtublic good ? Is it 
sound policy to abandon a conquest 
thus far made, and deliver up to 
havoc, or add to the number of our 
enemies, those friendly Creeks and 
Cherokees, who relying on our pro- 
tection, have espoused our cause, and 
aided us with their arms ? Is it good 



62 

policy to turn loose upon our de- 
fenceless frontiers five thousand ex- 
asperated savages, to reek their 
hands once !nore in the blood of our 
citizens ? Wisat ! Retrograde under 
such circumstances ? I will perish 
first, no I will do my duty ; I will 
hold the posts I have established iin* 
til ordered to abandon them by the 
commanding general, or die in the 
struggle ; long since have I deter- 
mined not to seek the preservation 
of life at the sacrifice of reputation. 

" But our frontiers it seems are to 
be defended, and by whom? By the 
very force that is now recommended 
to be dismissed : for I am first told 
to retire into the settlements and 
protect the frontiers ; next to dis- 
charge my troops ; and then that no 
measures can be taken for raising- 
others. No my friend, if troops be 
given me, it is not by loitering on the 
frontiers that I will seek to give pro- 



68 

tection ; — they are to be defended, 
if defended at all, in a very different 
manner ; — by carrying the war into 
the heart of the enemy's country. 
All other hopes of defence are more 
visionary than dreams. What then 
is to be done ? I'll tell you what. 
You have only to act with the ener- 
gy and decision the crisis demands, 
and all will be well. Send me a 
force engaged for six months, and I 
will answer for the result, — but with- 
hold it and all is lost,— the reputa- 
tion of the State, and yours, and mine, 
along with it." 

The Governor was suitably im- 
pressed by the contents of this letter, 
and set about in good earnest to ad- 
minister support to the General. He 
instantly ordered twenty-jfive hun- 
dred of the militia, for a tour of three 
months, to rendezvous at Fayette- 
ville. The command was assigned 
to General Johnston, who was diretc 



64 

ed to repair straightway to Port 
Strother. General Cocke was be- 
sides instructed to raise the quota 
prescribed by General Jackson, and 
to have them forthcoming at an ear- 
ly day. 

But all these splendid expectances 
eventuated at last in the acquisition 
of the volunteers raised under the 
auspices of Colonel Carroll ; consist- 
ing of eight hundred and fifty re- 
cruits. And the very history of these, 
shows the distressed posture of the 
General's affairs. For Colonel Car- 
roll unable to obtain compliance with 
the conditions of enlistment which 
had been laid down ; — that is to say, 
unable to procure men for a service 
of six months or during the campaign, 
with all his endeavours only prevail- 
ed upon them to engage for the space 
of sixty days. What could the Gen- 
eral do ? — Upon this levy he was to- 



65 

tally dependent, and of course, he 
had to accept it such as it was. 

General Pinkney who held the 
chief command, having forwarded in- 
timation by express, that General 
Floyd with his division, was pushing 
forwards to unite with Jackson ; and 
that a diversion in favour of General 
Floyd was expected to be made in 
the meantime ; it became necessary 
for our General to put his men in 
motion. Their number was small 
indeed, and consisted mostly of raw 
recruits. Upon reaching Talladega 
they were joined by two hundred 
friendly Indians, (Cherokees and 
Creeks,) who were however indiffer- 
ently armed, and not a little daunted 
too, at witnessing our limited amount 
of force. But if Talladega contri- 
buted little to the strength of his 
command, it furnished Jackson with 
stronger motives for advancing : 
since there a letter was delivered him 



66 

from the officer stationed at Fort 
Armstrong, by whom he was advised 
that the warriors of fourteen or fif- 
teen towns on the banks of the Tal- 
lapoosa had collected with intent to 
demolish that depot, and that his im- 
mediate succour was required to 
save it. Jackson determined to 
make an attack immediately on this 
new horde of savages. There was 
a double advantage to be gained by 
their dispersion : in the first place 
Fort Armstrong would be preserved, 
and moreover the progress of Gen- 
eral Floyd would be thereby essenti- 
ally favoured. 

He learned that the Indians were 
posted near the mouth of a creek 
called Emuckfmc, and thither he 
proceeded with the utmost expedi- 
tion. Having gained the higher 
groundsin the vicinity of the creek, 
he sent out a reconnoitering party, 
and in the meantime took all requi- 



67 

site jprecautions against a sudden at- 
tack. The party returning announ- 
ced that they had discovered a large 
encampment of Indians about three 
miles distant, and that they were en- 
gaged in whooping and the exercise 
of their martial dance. It being 
thence inferred that they were ap- 
prized of the arrival of the troops, 
preparations were made for the morn- 
ing's hostilities. By break of day the 
alarm guns of the sentinels echoed 
amidst the terrific shrieks and wild 
ejaculations of the enemy, who com- 
menced a hurried and furious assault 
upon the left flank, but were opposed 
with perfect firmness. General Cof- 
fee and Colonels Carroll and Sitler 
hastened to the point of conflict, ani- 
mating by their example and encour- 
aging the inexperienced troops. The 
left wing, which standing the brunt 
of action during a full half hour, was 



68 

considerably weakened, having been 
reinforced by the accession of a fresh 
company, General Coffee ordered a 
charge, and the Indians took to flight. 
They were chased about two miles, 
the friendly Indians uniting with the 
rest of the pursuers. Of the troops 
five were killed and twenty wounded. 
As long as the light continued to be 
insufficient for giving distinction to 
objects, great advantage arose from 
the position of the camp fires, which 
being outside the ahgnment, the as- 
sailants were quite discernible, while 
the troops were entirely concealed in 
darkness, or seen with confusion 
through the obscurity. 

When pursuit was given over, Ge- 
neral Coffee was dispatched with 
four hundred men accompanied by 
the friendly Indians, for the purpose 
of destroying the works which the 
enemy had thrown up; General Jack- 
son instructing him at the same time 



69 

to use no delay in abortive trials, if 
his force proved inadequate to de- 
molish them out of hand. General 
Coffee having examined the place, 
and found it too strong for his means, 
returned to the camp. The propri- 
ety of doing so was made presently 
manifest. Not more than half an 
hour's time had elapsed from his re- 
turn, when the piquets posted on the 
right were assailed with a sharp fire 
attended by a frightful yelling. Ge- 
neral CoiFee, having asked and ob- 
tained permission, put himself at the 
head of a detachment and moved 
briskly forward to turn the left flank 
of the aggressors. It was very fortu- 
nate that there was no considerable 
force to be opposed on this occasion, 
for the detachment happened to be 
drawn from different companies, and 
so, having no common ligament, they 
had the meanness to drop off one by 
one, unperceived through the rapid- 



70 

ity of the movement; and at last Ge- 
neral Coffee had with him but fifty 
left of the whole. He found the In- 
dians posted along a piny ridge thick 
set with underwood, from which, 
lest they should make use of it for 
a concealment, he thought right 
to dislodge them, and in this attempt 
he succeeded; but not without loss, 
being himself wounded and his aid- 
de-camp shot dead together with 
three of his men. The savages ulti- 
mately made their escape to a creek 
covered over with reeds wherein 
they screened themselves from the 
view of their pursuers. 

The enemy having made this at- 
tack on the right by way of feint, ex- 
pecting their design to have carried, 
now rushed out from their covert, 
and with their main body, assailed 
the left line. General Jackson, ap- 
prehensive of their having this aim, 
had given order tliat the left Hue 



71 

should continue firm in its position, 
and when the first ^un was heard in 
that direction, he repaired to the Hue 
in person and strengthened it with 
additional force. The first onset 
of the Indians, which was violent and 
impetuous, encountered an opposi- 
tion firm, unyielding and manly. 
Hereupon the Indians resorted to 
brisk and irregular firing from behind 
logs, trees, shrubbery, and other pro- 
tection; and after discharging their 
pieces, they would couch down or lie 
prostrate; and in such postures re- 
loading, would rise again, and again 
in the same manner repeat their fire. 
After they had been for some time 
suffered thus to play upon the troops, 
a charge was ordered to be made 
upon them, which, formed by the 
whole line, threw them into utter 
confusion, and they hurried precipi- 
tately off. Vast numbers were over- 



72 

taken and cut down in the pursuit; 
but their loss has not been exactly 
ascertained. 

Although the Indians were defeat- 
ed in the fight of Emuckfaw, their 
plans were formed with much saga- 
city. They contemplated a simulta- 
neous attack on three different quar- 
ters. But one of the tribes, the Che- 
alegrans, instead of performing the 
part assigned it, passed by stealth 
the point proposed, rejoicing in hav- 
ing had the good fortune to escape 
into the villages without molestation. 
The result might otherwise have 
been seriously different. 

The general was induced to re- 
turn again to Fort Strother; the pro- 
visions in the camp being very scan- 
ty, and the region itself quite unpro- 
uctive. Having by the success of 
this action relieved Fort Armstrong 
and considerably diminished tlie 
force which might be brought against 



73 

General Floyd; he ordered suitable 
conveyances to be prepared for the 
wounded, and had arrangements 
made for commencing the return 
march by 10 o'clock the next morn- 
ing. After marching until dark, he 
encamped the army close to Enoti- 
chopco, a creek that lay on the route 
to the ford over which he had previ- 
ously crossed. There was good rea- 
son to expect that the Indians medi- 
tated an ambuscade at this ford. The 
place was well fitted for such a pur- 
pose, as it furnished them with the 
advantage of concealment, two ad- 
joining hills being overgrown with 
shrubbery and brown sedge, while 
the deep ravine which lay between, 
rendered pursuit almost impractica- 
ble. The general therefore sent pi- 
oneers to explore a less inconvenient 
passage, and one being found about 
six hundred yards distant, he set out 
thither, taking care to place the 



74 

troops 111 a posture of defence. A 
declivity of open woodland led to 
it, and there was no interruption to 
the view, except at its margin which 
was thinly covered with reeds. The 
front and a portion of the columns 
had already past, the wounded had 
been transported in safety, and the 
artillery were about to enter the 
creek, when the report of an alarm 
gun was heard on the rear. It ap- 
pears that the Indians finding their 
expectation deceived with respect to 
the direction of march, had relin- 
quished the ambuscade which they 
had lately formed, and made an at- 
tack on Captain Russell's company 
which proceeded hindmost. The 
company, being in number far infe- 
rior to its assailants, gradually retir- 
ed to the rear guard; who acconling 
to the orders already given them to 
that effect, facing round, became the 
advance, and the right and left co- 



75 

lumns at the same time wheeled in 
such a manner as to enclose the 
enemy. The general was in the act 
of crossing the ford when the yells 
and fire reached his ears. He forth- 
with directed his aid-de-camp to 
form a line for the safeguard of the 
wounded, and proceeded himself to 
turn the right column; but here he 
had the mortification to find both the 
right and left columns disgracefully 
put to flight, and choking up that 
part of the stream by which the main 
body of his army had to be re -cross- 
ed. Presently the centre colunm 
taking example from the other two, 
plunged into the creek; and not 
more than twenty of them remained 
to sustain the charge of the enemy. 
The company of artillery, command- 
ed by Lieutenant Armstrong, prompt- 
ly dragged up their piece of ordnance 
to a summit whence they could use 
it more effectually. Here a despe- 



76 

rate strugajle took place; the Indians 
making a furious essay to gain pos- 
session of the gun, whilst the compa- 
ny forming with their muskets, made 
a resolute stand in its defence. The 
rammer and pricker happened to get 
so fast to the carriage, that they 
could not be disengaged, whereupon 
two of the men contrived to thrust 
home the cartridges with a musket, 
and by a dexterous application of a 
ramrod made them ready for the 
match. Lieutenant Armstrong fell 
by the side of his piece, exclaiming 
as he lay; "Some of you must per- 
ish ; but do not lose the gun.'' For 
several minutes this gallant band 
which consisted of youths of the 
most respectable families in Tennesr 
see, maintained with veteran steadi- 
ness the violent assaults of a quin- 
tuple number. Jackson having used 
his utmost exertions to relieve them, 
succeeded at length in sending across 



77 

the creek small detachments to their 
assistance. Finally Captain Gordon 
at the head of his company of spies 
made a fierce attack upon the ene- 
my's left flank; and now seeing a 
powerful force advancing against 
them, the Indians throwing aside 
their blankets and whatever else 
might retard them by incumbrance, 
hastily betook themselves to flight; 
and being pursued to a distance of 
two miles were many of them cut 
down, and the rest totally dispersed. 
The general experienced much 
difficulty in bringing his troops to 
order after the confusion into which 
the first charge of the Indians had 
thrown them. Besides the active 
endeavours ol his staff*, General Cof- 
fee likewise contributed most effec- 
tually to stop the panic. This gal- 
lant general, owing to the wound he 
had received in the affair near 
Emuckfaw, had to submit to the ne- 



78 

eessity of being carried in a litter 
throughout the preceding day; but 
anticipating an attack this morning, 
he ventured to take horse, and dif- 
fused an animated confidence by the 
pattern he set of coolness and intre- 
didity. The hospital surgeon, Doc- 
tor Shelby, ranged himself amongst 
the combatants, and was conspicu- 
ous for his activity and zeal. Adju- 
tant General Sitler, upon witnessing 
the stand made by the artillery com- 
pany, to which he had been himself 
formerly attached, hastened over the 
creek, and participated with them in 
their sanguinary conflict. Captain 
Gordon in an especial manner by his 
spirited sally against the left flank of 
the enemy, proved instrumental in 
turning the fortunes of the day. But 
as to the general himself, all eyes 
were bent upon him and all ears at- 
tentive. He was the very hfe of the 
fray, and by the collecledness of his 



79 

behaviour constituted the rallying 
point for all. 

Having finished this prosperous 
expedition, and conducted the men 
in safety back to Fort Strother, the 
general deemed it proper to dis- 
charge them, being aware of their 
anxiety to revisit their homes, and 
solicitous that discontent should not 
sully the character they had recently 
acquired for themselves by their 
meritorious behaviour. Advices from 
Tennessee announced that new 
levies were advancing rapidly, and 
that the enlistment would be of suf- 
ficient duration to bring to a close 
the Indian warfare. In order that 
the fresh troops might be introduced 
speedily to active service upon theii 
arrival, he caused the volunteers to 
construct the boats requisite for con- 
veying the provisions and camp equip- 
age down the Coosa, and as soon 



80 

as an adequate number was com- 
pleted, he directed them to be 
marched homewards, and there lio- 
nourably discharged. He would fain 
have retained the artillery company, 
whose valour he had experienced, 
and who had given such signal 
proofs of their fidelity and courage, 
but considering the great sacrifice 
which this company had made in 
quitting their domestic comforts for 
the benefit of their country, the 
many hardships they had undergone 
with patience, the zeal for the com- 
mon cause which they had so con- 
spicuously manifested, he felt him- 
self called upon to consult their pri- 
vate inclinations, and restore them 
to the bosom of their families. Pre- 
vious to parting, he addressed them 
in the most affecting terms ; he re- 
counted the instances they had given 
of their fortitude, and spoke in the 
handsomest manner of their steady 



81 

adherence from the beginning of the 
campaign, and reflected with grate- 
ful emotions on the resignation with 
which they had borne those sufferings 
and privations which among others 
had produced mutiny and open re- 
volt. 

From the unequivocal and posi- 
tive assurances which had been 
given, the sjeneral had reason to pre- 
sunie that no impediment would oc- 
cur to obstruct the prosecution of 
the war, and under this impression 
he ordered the new raised troops to 
advance and form a junction at Fort 
Strother, which he made his head 
quarters. Accordingly Brigadier Ge- 
neral Johnston with the second di- 
vision having united his force with 
that under General Doherty from 
East Tennessee, the army became 
about five thousand strong. 

Constituted of men unused to mi- 
litary service, this body could only be 



82 

kept in proper discipline, by the 
strictest attention and vigilance on 
the part of the officers who held au- 
thority over it. A private, named 
John Woods, who had been convict- 
ed of mutiny and sentenced to death 
by a court-martial, was delivered to 
the execution of the law, and atoned 
for his rebellious conduct by under- 
going a capital punishment. That 
refractory disposition which had so 
long infested the camp, and even for 
a time interrupted the activity of the 
service, had reached a crisis which 
loudly called for an example of se- 
verity to restrain it. The present 
occasion offered an opportunity to 
give a palpable demonstration that 
although under their own roofs and 
in their private dwellings, the militia 
may scorn the dictation of any man, 
yet when led forth to repel the ag- 
gression of their country's enemies, 
they must conform to established 



83 

regulations, and deferring to autho- 
rity, submit their conduct to the di- 
rection of such as possess a legiti- 
mate dominion over them ; — that 
they must rehnquish a portion of 
their independence for a season in 
order to enjoy it afterwards in un- 
disturbed security. It was repug- 
nant to the general's feelings to al- 
low the sentence of tlie court to be 
carried into the fatal consummation, 
but a sense of public duty admonish- 
ed him of its necessity, and he had 
learned by experience that an unin- 
terrupted course of lenient measures 
was ill adapted to ensure tranquility 
and order. The sentence was there- 
fore executed ; and the false opinion 
that a member of the militia was by 
no misconduct liable to suffer death, 
being thereby dispelled, the soldiers 
were taught that they acted u ider 

-an awful responsibility ; aiid a stricter 

8* 



84 

observance of good discipline and 
order, unknown before, succeeded to 
capricious insubordination. 

INo obstacle was now presented to 
hinder an active prosecution of the 
campaign, and the general was pro- 
ceeding to advance with the troops 
immediatelv, when he found his ex- 
pectation of the necessary supplies 
once more disappointed. He had 
already remonstrated in vain ; it was 
to no purpose he had employed both 
menace and solicitation. The con- 
tractors were guided by no princi- 
ples of honour or of justice — a mer- 
cenary set of men, whose private in- 
terest was their leading star, who 
were utterly destitute of public spi- 
rit, whose sordid bosoms cherished 
no sentiments of patriotism, and who 
solely intent on the accumulation of 
riches, had no regard for the pros- 
perity of the commonwealth. The 
general foreseeing the great mischief 



85 

which might spring from this source, 
the discontent and defection of his 
troops, and having no longer confi- 
dence in characters who had already 
so frequently abused it, determined 
now to adopt more effectual mea- 
sures, and obtain the supplies by his 
own exertion. In pursuance of this 
determination, he sent into the near- 
est settlements trusty persons with di- 
rections to collect provisions at what- 
ever rate they might be able to pur- 
chase them. This was an appeal more 
powerful than any which he had as 
yet made to the victualling commis- 
sioners. Finding that they would 
thus become responsible for all the 
purchases which would so take place, 
they exerted themselves with unac- 
customed energy, and their interest 
excited a zeal to which their con- 
sciences had been unfamiliar. All 
methods had been tried to urge 
them to the discharge of their duty, 



86 

but the plan of stimulating their ac- 
tivity which the general resorted to 
on the present occasion, proved the 
only one suited to the purpose. In 
a correspondence of his at this pe- 
riod, he observes; — "I have no doubt 
but a combination has been formed 
to defeat the objects of the cam- 
paign; but the contractor ought to 
have recollected, that he had disap- 
pointed and starved my army once; 
and now in return, it shall be amply 
provided for at his expense. At this 
point he was to have delivered the 
rations — and whatever they may cost, 
at this place, he will be required to 
pay: any price that will ensure their 
delivery, I have directed to be given." 
He had before offered strong objec- 
tions to supplying the army by means 
of am tractors^ as he had by experi- 
ence tested the inefficiency of that 
measure. The ui necessary prolong- 
ation ot the campaign, and the dis- 



87 

contents and even revolt of his troops 
in the midst of success had resulted 
from their neglect and continual 
disappointments. If an army was 
obliged to halt in order to await the 
arrival of supplies, or as indeed was 
actually the case, had to surrender 
the most momentous advantages, 
and march back to the post from 
which it had set out, the nation might 
forfeit millions of dollars, and many 
lives might be lost, whilst all the re- 
dress that could be obtained was by 
commencing a law-suit against the 
contractor, and after a lapse of twelve 
or eighteen months, a jury would 
merely decide how far the covenant 
had been infringed into which he 
had entered. 

These perplexities combined with 
others of a serious character, filled 
the general's mind with the most 
anxious inquietude. His just ex- 



88 

pectations were frustrated, and his 
-fondest hopes were overcast. 

The East Tennessee brigade, as- 
signed to the command of General 
Doherty, having been ordered to stay 
behind until a suitable quantity of 
provisions were brought to head- 
quarters, had shown strong indica- 
tions of an unwilUng disposition to 
go through the campaign, and were 
with much trouble kept from return- 
ing home. Their own aversion to 
the service is said to have been 
strengthened by a certain individual 
whose duty it was to encourage them 
to theirs — holding forth to them the 
illegality of the process under which 
they had been drafted, and arguing 
consequently that they were annex- 
ed to the service by no binding tie. 
Such reasoning addressed to minds 
that desired to be convinced could 
not fail to produce a baneful impres- 
sion. On the very morning in which 



S9 

General Doherty was to have march- 
ed, to head quarters, hearing an ir- 
regular beating of the druni, and in* 
quiring into the tause, he was in- 
formed that the object was to assem- 
ble together such as were inclined 
to return home ; and notwithstand- 
ing he exerted his utmost endea- 
vours to allay the ferment, one hun- 
dred and eighty abandoned his com- 
mand, and forsook his banner. It 
was with astonishment he learned 
that intimation had been conveyed 
to the troops from General Cocke, 
that should they return, he would 
himself upon their reaching Knox- 
ville, undertake to hold them harm- 
less for their conduct. General 
Cocke had before visited General 
Eoherty's station, and by scatter- 
ing flagitious and vague discourses 
through the camp, stirred up vio- 
h»nt dissatisfaction. He protested 
that he could not conscientiously 



90 

lead them forward on the expedition, 
since they were destined to be un- 
der the command of General Jack- 
son, who was sure to subject them 
to every species of hardship and mi- 
sery, and wantonly expose them to 
the most imminent perils. The sub- 
ject of rations was not left untouch- 
ed ; he asserted that five days' ab* 
sumption could exhaust the total 
Btock, ad that there was no pros- 
pect of its beinpf replenished. As a 
seal to this dismal catalogue of vex- 
ations, he pointed to the General's 
headstrong and tyrannical temper, 
and broadly hinted that, once being 
placed under his authority, the regu- 
lar force which was at his hand, 
would enable him to co-erce their 
continuance as long as he chose to 
keep them. Unpractised militia of 
virgin timidity, were of course affect- 
ed by suggestions of this sort, pro* 
eeediug from the lips of a superior 



91 

officer, who having himself exercised 
a command, sanctioned his informa- 
tion by the weight of his experience ; 
the veracity of whose statements 
therefore was the less to be question- 
ed since an opportunity had been af- 
forded him of ascertaining the facts. 
Brigadier Doherty finding himself 
thus awkwardly circumstanced with 
respect to his own Major-General, 
and not knowing what course to pur- 
sue, sent advice to General Jackson 
of the movement going forward 
among his troops. The same per- 
son who carried this intelligence 
was seiit back with a peremptory 
command to Brigadier Doherty, by 
which he was ordered to arrest any 
officer of what rank soever, who 
might be discovered sowing dissen- 
sion through his brigade, and to 
have him escorted to head-cpmrters. 

General Cocke, surmising, or having 

9 



92 

perhaps been informed of, the mes- 
sage which his Brigadier had des- 
patched to Fort Strother, prudently 
withdrew from the camp before the 
answer reached it, and so for the 
present escaped the penalty of his 
criminal practices. 

The General, having at last, by his 
indefatigable efforts and unwearied 
perseverance procured such a sup- 
ply of provisions as he was of opin- 
ion would answer the demands of 
his army, resolved to put his troops 
in motion, and lead them forward 
against the enemy ; not only for the 
saiie of accelerating the great object 
of the campaign, but that he might 
besides preserve the order, and fos- 
ter the spirit of the men — inactivity 
being ruinous to both. The Briga- 
diers having been directed to dismiss 
from the ranks all such as were phy- 
sically inefficient, or accoutred de- 
fectively, (that there might be no 



98 

useless members,) he commenced 
advancing. Seven days after the 
march was begun, he arrived, after 
crossing the Coosa, at the mouth of 
Cedar Creek, where he estabhshed 
the post, called Fort WilHams, agree- 
ably to a prior selection. Here he 
halted, and remained for three days 
to await the arrival of the provision 
barges which were descending the 
river. 



From Fort Williams, where he 
left a sufficient protection imder Gen- 
eral Johnston, he proceeded for the 
Tallapoosa, taking the route of 
Emuckfaw. As the position which 
it was ascertained the Indians had 
now chosen for their point of de- 
fence was by the natural advantages 
of the place, and the skill and assi- 
duity bestowed on its improvement, 
one of uncommon strength, no doubt 
existed of their determination to 



94 

make here a desperate stand. It 
was formed by one of the curvatui*es 
of the Tallapoosa, and being of a 
peninsular shape was called in the 
Indian tongue Tohopeka, the term 
they use to denote a Horse Shoe, 
whence the name given to the cele- 
brated fight about to be detailed. 
The General's design was to attack 
this position, and then returning to 
Fort Williams to lay in a sufficient 
stock of provisions for undertaking 
an expedition to the Hickory Ground, 
where he indulged the expectation 
that it would be in his power to 
bring the Creek war to a happy close. 
The available force which he now 
had, fell somewhat short of three 
thousand men — for he was obliged 
to leave detachments behind him at 
the several posts, it being indispens- 
able to safety that communication 
in the rear should be kept open and 
unobstructed. About 10 o'clock in 



95 

ilie morning after a march of three 
days, he arrived near the village of 
Tohopeka. The Indians apprized 
of his approach, had assembled for 
battle. Here the w^arriors of the ad- 
jacent towns, Oakfusky, Hillabee, 
Eufalce, and New Youcka, had come 
together, determined and ready to 
oppose his progress. A fitter spot 
for their purpose could not easily be 
found. The narrow isthmus, by 
which alone it could be approached, 
was fortified by heavy timber and 
trunks of trees, laid horizontally one 
over the other ; and while they could 
abide behind this breastwork in se- 
curity, a double row of portholes 
formed along it, enabled them to 
take an unerring aim at their assail- 
ants. 

Early in the day, the mounted in- 
fantry and friendly Indians were or- 
dered out to gain the Southern side 

9* 



96 

of the river, and General Coffee, 
who had them in charge, was direct- 
ed to make such offensive move- 
ments as might engage the enemy's 
attention, and draw it from the point 
where the attempt upon them was to 
be principally made. Instructions 
were at the same time particularly 
given to guard against the savages 
obtaining an opportunity of escape, 
by crossing over in their canoes, 
which were drawn up along the wa- 
ter side. The General arranged the 
rest of the army over-against the 
breastwork. He planted the cannon 
on a rising ground, about two hun- 
dred yards distant from it, in order 
to its demolition. And while the 
ordnance played upon it from above, 
the muskets and rifles were discharg- 
ed as the Indians happened to ap- 
pear behind it. The cannonade, 
though very hotly maintained for 
some minutes, had produced no ef- 



97 

feet of consequence, when signal be- 
ing made by General Coffee that his 
force had safely gained the opposite 
bank of the river, and was in readi- 
ness for action, the order was made* 
to " charge." Never, it has been 
said, were troops more eager to be 
led on than were both regulars and 
militia. They had been waiting 
with impatience for the order, and 
hailed it with acclamations. The 
spirit that animated them alike, was 
a sure augury of the success that 
was to follow. No distinction could 
be drawn beiween them; — either bo- 
dy exhibiting an undaunted resolu- 
tion and Uveliness of courage worthy 
the ranks of veteran conquerors. 
The thirty-ninth regiment headed 
by their commander, Colonel Wil- 
liams, and the valiant Major Mont- 
gomery, and Colonel Bunch's regi- 
ment of mihtia, pushed on amidst a 
destructive fire, and presently reach- 



98 

ed the breastwork. The mastery of 
the portholes now became the great 
object of dispute, and was contested 
on either side, with obstinate and 
deadly eagerness ; insomuch that 
many of the enemy's bullets became 
welded between the bayonets and 
musket barrels of the soldiers. Ma- 
jor Montgomery boldly springing on 
the top of the breastwork, shouted 
to the men below to ascend and fol- 
low him ; but scarcely were the 
words uttered when he dropped, shot 
through the head. The troops how- 
ever, intrepidly scaling, the Indians 
perceived their post no longer tena- 
ble, and flying hastily from their 
works, sought shelter among the 
brushwood and timber with< which 
the ground was thickly scattered, and 
from their concealment, kept up a 
continual fire, until by a second 
charge they were again forced to 
withdraw. Now reduced to despair, 



99 

rejecting all thoughts of throwing 
themselves upun the clemency of the 
victors, and yet seeing no place of 
refuge near them whither to fly, they 
resolved to make a bold effort to es- 
cape, and pass in their canoes to the 
farther side of the water ; but here 
too they met with a bitter disappoint- 
ment, for they saw the opposite bank 
lined with armed men prepared for 
their destruction. The surviving: 
warriors in this emergency leaped 
down the cliffs and declivities, and 
secreted themselves among the trees 
that lay on the edge of the river. 
Some few of them had withdrawn 
to the western angle of their works, 
and imder favour of the heaps of 
brush, assailed the troops who had 
entered their line and those who 
were advancing towards it — making 
their disappearance as soon as they 
had let off their pieces.. 



100 

The General, convinced that a con- 
tinuance of the fight must under 
such circumstances be attended with 
useless havoc and the total annihila- 
tion of the savages, humanely direct- 
ed the interpreter to advance under 
cover of some trees which stretched 
in front, and in his name, assure them 
that if they surrendered, they should 
receive the treatment of prisoners 
of war. But when the interpreter 
went forward a sufficient space for 
audible delivery and acquainted them 
with the subject of his commission, 
they remained for a while silent, af- 
ter listening attentively to his ad- 
dress throughout, and just as he was 
awaiting their answer, and expected 
their approbation of the overture, 
instead of authorizing him to report 
their acquiescence, they opened a fire 
upon the flag, and wounded the in- 
terpreter himself severely in the chest. 
This behaviour admits of a double 



101 

interpretation : either the savages 
did not expect to obtain mercy, and 
so were determined to spare no Hves 
by whatever casuahy subjected to 
their power, or the atrocious act sim- 
ply resulted from the inherent trea- 
chery of their heart, — in both cases it 
was right to dislodge them, and the 
General issued his order to that ef- 
fect. The artillery was first brought 
to bear upon them, the cumbrous 
weight however of the ordnance 
moved too sluggishly over places 
thick set with obstructions to make 
an impression of consequence ; and 
therefore, a charge was directed to be 
made, in which many brave men per- 
ished, but the enemy had to abandon ^ 
the retreats, and thus the left angle 
of the works was finally cleared. 
Torches were now lighted and 
thrown down the precipices, and the 
brushwood and trees catching fire, 
forced the unhappy refugees to come 



102 

forth. Nevertheless they obstinate- 
ly persisted in their opposition. 
Thus the destruction continued until 
night, when under cover of the dark- 
ness, a nunii)er contrived to make 
their hair-breadth escape. While 
the main army was thus employed at 
the Horse Shoe, General Coffee's 
detachment did not remain inactive 
on the opposite bank of the river, 
and there is no doubt but that the 
breastwork would not have been so 
easily carried had it not been for the 
skilful operations of that detach- 
ment. Let it be considered, that 
the village stood on the river's edge, 
and while the warriors were occupied 
at the other extremity of the pen- 
insula in defending the entrance in- 
to it, a party of the friendly Indians 
and mounted infantry swimming 
across, brought off without observa- 
tion several of the canoes, and in 
tiiese a considerable number being 



108 

wafted over, got admission into the 
town and set it on fire. Whereup- 
on many of the savages hastening 
towards the scene of conflagration, 
enfeebled the strength with which 
the assailants of the breastwork had 
to contend. 

It had been always the custom of 
the Indians when they expected to 
have an engagement, cautiously to 
remove their women and children at 
a distance from danger ; but contra- 
ry to this usage, their women and 
children were left in the hamlet of 
Tohopeka— an indubitable argument 
that they regarded this to be an im- 
pregnable position, and harboured 
the firmest expectation of being able 
to repel any force that might be 
brought against it. Their defeat 
therefore at the Horse Shoe, broke 
down the energies of their spirit, 

and crushed every hope of their bo- 
10 



104 

som, nor ever afterwards did they 
attempt a serious resistance. Al- 
ready had they tried the fortune of 
sudden attack, and what they could 
avail by unexpected sallies from con- 
cealment in the forest, and had ex- 
hausted all the wily methods of am- 
buscade. A train of miscarriages 
had recently attended their efforts. 
But here at the Horse Shoe, they 
rested their confidence. It was a 
post which nature had fashioned to 
their hand, and all their ingenuity 
was brought into requisition to con- 
firm its advantages by art. 

In this battle a greater number of 
warriors fell than the Creeks had 
lost in all their previous engage- 
ments. Besides the corpses which 
were thrown into the river, and 
those savages who were taken down 
in attempting to cross it, and of whom 
therefore no exact computation can 
be made, five hundred and fifty- se- 



105 

ven were found dead in the theatre 
of action, and among them three of 
their prophets. These prophets 
having their heads and shoulders 
wreathed with the party-coloured 
feathers of different birds, performed 
their devotions to the Sun in the hot- 
test of the fray, and greatly animated 
their followers, chanting their un- 
couth odes, twisting their bodies in- 
to every attitude, and distorting their 
features with horrible grimace. So 
powerful was the influence which' 
they exercised over the credulity of 
the warriors and perhaps over their 
own, that even at the instant of scal- 
ing their breastwork, no apprehen- 
sion of danger was betrayed, but it 
seemed rather as if the onset of the 
troops only gave their Great Spirit 
an opportunity of making them a 
more intimate visitation. This their 
confidence however, abated not a lit- 
tle on the fall of Monohoe. Mono- 



106 

lioe had in a peculiar manner ac- 
quired their reverence, and was 
eminently distinguished amongst 
them for his powers of divination ; 
but in this fatal engagement while 
actually uttering his prophecies and 
impelhng his hearers to the fight, a 
cannon ball smote him in the mouth, 
and brought his predictions to a close. 
The Indian tribes had entertained 
the belief, as their teachers had in- 
structed them, that their hunting 
grounds would be again restored to 
their possession by means of a new 
people who were to come for that 
purpose from beyond the great wa- 
ters. But the death of Monohoe 
staggered the faith of many, and not 
a few of them considered the strange 
manner of his end as a judgment 
upon him from above, inflicted ex- 
pressly on account of his oracular 
impieties. 



107 

To persons unacquainted with the 
usages of Indian warfare, it may ap- 
pear astonishing that so few men of 
arms yielded themselves prisoners, 
and that they preferred certain death 
to the chance of experiencing the 
victors' clemency. The fact is, that 
conscious of their own want of gen- 
erosity towards the vanquished, they 
hardly ever think of finding that 
quality in others, and when they per- 
ceive themselves worsted, and their 
success without hope, they aim only 
to sell their lives as dearly as they 
may, unless by a lucky flight, they 
can eschew opportunely the fury of 
their enemies. Their obstinate per- 
severance and unwillingness to hear- 
ken to any terms, may likewise be in~ 
some measure accounted for by the 
knowledge of what had befallen the 
Hillabees, who being defeated by a 

detachment of General Cocke's di- 

10* 



108 

vision, cried out for quarter in vain, 
and surrendering at discretion, were 
assailed and put to the sword. 
Doubtless this occurrence would not 
have taken place had that detach- 
ment been aware that a liberal sys- 
teln had been adopted with respect 
to such conquered Indians as declar- 
ed their submission; an ignorance of 
which policy must be ascribed to the 
absence of concert among the seve- 
ral divisions of the army; but the 
fact could not be undone, and it was 
looked upon by the Indians as a sam- 
ple of what might be expected from 
the good faith of all commanders on 
other occasions, so that the red men 
placed their dependence thencefor- 
wards upon their own dexterity and 
prowess alone. And thus we have 
seen them resisting with unavailing 
mischief after all reasonable hope 
had vanished, whether of success or 
escape, and even after the command- 



109 

ing General had made a solemn pro- 
posal to spare their lives. 

The aggregate of the prisoners, 
then amounting in all to three hun- 
dred, consisted of women and chil- 
dren. Amongst the latter was an 
infant discovered at its mother's 
breast. The circumstances of the 
fight indeed were such as to baffle 
the most attentive caution to avoid a 
random havoc, and the mother of 
this infant was one of those unfor- 
tunate creatures who fell the victims 
of accidental destruction. When 
the General heard the story of the 
babe, he desired to have it brought 
before hiai, and endeavoured to pre- 
vail with some-one of the Indian wo- 
men to take charge of its nurture. 
They however expressed a frank 
opinion that since the parents had 
fallen in battle, it were as well that 
it should be put to death, as raised 
without any protection. This ex* 



110 

position of their sentiments brought 
to the General's mind the forlorn 
condition of his own childhood, in 
which he was bereft of all his rela- 
tives, and thrown upon the world 
without a guide to direct his steps, 
without a friend to soothe his sor- 
rows or afford him counsel and as- 
sistance. His sympathies were 
touched by the case of the helpless 
orphan, and he determined to be- 
come himself its guardian. He gave 
to the child the name Lincoier and 
adopted him into his own family, and 
has ever since treated his interesting 
protege with parental tenderness and 
care. 



The intention of his descent be- 
ing now accompHshed, the General 
made preparations to return to Fort 
Williams, according to the plan of 
operations which he had projected 
before his departure from it. 



Ill 

His first solicitude was to secure 
the bodies of the dead from suffer- 
ing violation at the hands of the sa- 
vages. He discovered that fifty-five, 
including? friendly Indians, had sur- 
rendered their hves in compassing 
this glorious and important victory. 
Now as several of the Horse Shoe 
or Tohopeka Indians, were found 
habited in the very dress of the sol- 
diers who had been killed and bu- 
ried at Emuckfaw, it was clear that 
the bodies of these men had been 
raised stripped and scalped. Decen- 
cy forbade that a practice so revolt- 
ing to humanity shonld be suffered 
to continue. But there was a seri- 
ous public reason besides, wherefore 
it should be prevented. It was well 
ascertained that the Creek nation 
was kept in darkness with respect to 
the losses which they had sustained. 
A display of scalps taken from their 
adversaries was to them a sufficient 



112 

evidence tbat victory crowned the 
efforts of their v^^arriors, while a 
feigned expedition to some distant 
quarter easily accounted for the ab- 
sence of such as did not return. 
Policy therefore combined with hu- 
mane considerations for removing 
the dead beyond the reach of the sa- 
vages. The bodies were with that 
intent sunk in the river. 

Next to discharging these obse- 
quies, he turned his attention to the 
care of the wounded. And after 
providing for their conveyance, he 
commenced his return to the fort, 
which was reached in safety and 
without molestation. 

That the ardour of the troops 
might be kept alive, and that he 
might acquit himself of the acknow- 
ledgments which he conceived were 
due to their energetic and noble ex- 
ertions in the recent combat of the 
Horse Shoe, the day following his 



118 

arrival, as they were drawn out on 
parade, he presented them with a 
handsome eulogy running in these 
terms. 

" You have entitled yourselves to 
the gratitude of your country and 
your General. The expedition from 
which you have just returned, has, 
by your good conduct, been render- 
ed prosperous, beyond any example 
in the history of our warfare ; it has 
redeemed the character of your 
state, and of that description of 
troops of which the greater part of 
you are. 

"You have within a few days, 
opened your way to the Tallapoosa, 
and destroyed a confederacy of the 
enemy, ferocious by nature, and who 
had grown insolent from impunity. 
Relying on their numbers, the secu- 
rity of their situation, and the assu- 
rances of their prophets, they derided 
our approach, and already exuked in 



114 

anticipation of the victory they ex- 
pected to obtain. But they were 
ignorant of the influence and effect 
of government on the human powers, 
nor knew what brave men, and civi- 
Hzed, could effect. By their yells, 
the} hoped to frighten us, and with 
their uooden fortifications to oppose 
us. Stupid mortals ! Their yells but 
designated their situation the more 
certainly ; whilst their walls became 
a snare for their own destruction. 
So will it ever be, when presumption 
and ignorance contend against bra- 
very and prudence. 

"The fiends of the Tallapoosa 
will no longer murder our women 
and children, or disturb^ the quiet of 
our borders. Their midnight flam- 
beaux will no more illumine their 
council house, or shine upon the vic- 
tim of their infernal orgies. In their 
place a new generation will arise, 
who will know their duty better. 



115 

The weapons of warfare will be ex- 
changed for the utensils of husband- 
ry ; and the wilderness which now 
withers in sterility, and mourns the 
desolation which overspreads her, 
will blossom as the rose, and be- 
come the nursery of the arts. But 
before this happy day can arrive, 
other chastisements remain to be in- 
flicted. It is indeed lamentable, that 
the path to peace should lead through 
blood, and over the bodies of the 
slain; but it is a dispensation of 
Providence, and perhaps a wise one, 
to inflict partial evils, that ultimate 
good may be produced. 

" Our enemies are not sufficiently 
humbled, — they do not sue for peace. 
A collection of them await our ap- 
proach, and remain to be dispersed. 
Buried in ignorance, and seduced by 
the false pretences of their prophets, 
they have the weakness to believe 
li 



116 

they will still be able to make a de- 
cided stand against us. They must 
be undeceived, and made to atone 
their obstinacy and their crimes, by 
still further suffering. Those hopes 
which have so long deluded them, 
must be driven from their last refuge. 
They must be made to know, that 
their prophets are impostors, and 
that our strength is mighty and will 
prevail. Then, and not till then, 
may we expect to make with them a 
peace that shall be permanent." 

Imbued with patriotic sentiments 
thus conveyed to them by their illus- 
trious leader, the troops manifested 
a zealous inclination to prosecute the 
war. And the General was encou- 
raged to hasten his departure to the 
Hickory Ground, and carry into ef- 
fect the plan he had contemplated, 
while the recent defeat of the Indi- 
ans was still green in its impression, 
and before they gained time to reco- 



117 

ver from their consternation. Cer* 
tain intelligence had been received 
that a considerable force was collect- 
ed at Hoithlewalee, a town not far 
distant from the Hickory land. 

But discharges, which had been 
liberally granted, united with sick- 
ness, to thin his force materially, and 
he was upon this account, anxious to 
join the Southern army, that with a 
combination of the two, he might be 
able to act upon a more extensive 
scale. It was understood that the 
North-Carolina troops, under the 
command of General Graham, (a re- 
volutionary officer,) and the troops of 
Georgia under that of Colonel Mil- 
ton had arrived at no ffreat distance 
South of the Tallapoosa. General 
Pinckneyhad already acquainted him 
that he should have no inconvenience 
to meet from a scarcity of supplies 
w henever he formed a junction with 
those troops, as they were amply 



118 

provided. Being apprehensive in 
regard to the competency of his ow^n 
means to answer the demands of his 
army, he was for this cause also de- 
sirous of joining the Southern divi- 
sion with the least possible delay. 

Putting his troops in readiness 
with all expedition, he placed Fort 
Williams under the command of 
General Johnston, to whom he gave 
in charge the sick and wounded ; 
and proceeded with the two-fold view, 
as well of attempting the establish- 
ment at Hoithlewalee, as of uniting 
to his own the Southern force. To 
accomplish the latter of these objects, 
it was necessary to communicate with 
Colonel Milton, and make him ac- 
quainted with his movements. But 
here there was a difficulty to be 
overcome which did not previously 
exist in the same degree, as now 
that the troops had farther penetrat- 
ed the regions occupied by the hos- 



119 

tile parties. The friendly Indians 
feelino: assured that a more numer- 
ous collection had assembled than 
hitherto, and that the country would 
be now more extensively scoured 
than ever for the purpose of observ- 
ing whatever motions mi^ht affect 
the waging of the war, grew subject 
to an unusual dread in bearing des- 
patches ; an office which was alone 
to be confided to them, since they 
alone were qualified by acquaintance 
with the routes and situations of the 
places, to manage the business with 
requisite celerity and address. They 
feared that there would be now too 
much circumspection used for them 
to elude the notice of the adverse 
party ; and it was not without good 
reason that they apprehended very 
ungentle usage in the event of being 
detected and seized. On the other 
hand, the General considered that if 
11* 



120 

the enemy could be induced to make 
trial of their strength at Hoithlewalee, 
and fortune declared strikingly 
against them, they would be dispos- 
ed to hearken to any terms of accom- 
modation rather than draw down 
obvious ruin, when they perceived 
that no resort was left to them, as 
would happen by preventing them 
from crossing the river and thence di- 
recting their steps towards Pensacola 
and the Escambia. Whereas if they 
could effect their escape towards 
those points, in the result of their 
dispersion here, they would at all 
events have time allowed them to 
respire from their overthrow, to re- 
animate their flagging courage, and 
rekindle their ardour ; or perhaps at 
some juncture propitious to their en- 
terprize, might obtain advantages to 
justify their prolongation of the war. 
The only sure method by which to 
hinder an occurrence so much to be 



121 

deprecated was the adoption of cor- 
responding movements on the part 
of the Southern troops ; and with 
whose commanders therefore, it was 
necessary for the General to main- 
tain an intercourse, since they and 
he could with certainty act by con- 
cert in no other way. 

Trusty Indians, whose local know- 
ledge qualified them for the perform- 
ance of the task, being at length 
prevailed upon to undertake the mis- 
sion, expresses were despatched to 
Colonel Milton advising him of the 
General's design ; and as a precau- 
tion against the dangers of surprize, 
accident or miscarriage, several mes- 
sengers were sent directed to go by 
different routes. The Colonel was 
certified with respect to the particu- 
lar day of the General's departure, 
and that the march to Hoithlewalee 
should be so conducted as to termin- 
ate without fail the fourth day ensu- 



122 

iiig, on which day he would be pre* 
sent with two thousand men suppHed 
with four days' provisions. He 
impressed the absolute expediency 
of harmonizing their movements, 
and that the Georgia troops should 
either reach the same destination 
about the same time, or by making 
some favourable diversion in its vi- 
cinity, give immediate aid to the ac- 
complishment of the object proposed. 
But the rain which had fallen in pro- 
digious quantity, having swollen the 
rivers to exundation, and overflooded 
the country round, unexpected ob- 
stacles lay before them and prolong- 
ed the march two days beyond the 
computation. This accidental de- 
lay afforded the Indians time for 
withdrawing into other parts, and 
they availed themselves it seems, of 
the interval thus presented. For 
the small rivulet running in front of 
the town, then however, enlarged to 



123 

considerable magnitude, had become 
so difficult to ford, that the savages 
had an opportunity to cross in their 
canoes to the opposite bank in a dif- 
ferent direction, and effect their 
clearance by the Southern quarter, 
while the Tennessee troops advan- 
ced from the North ; which unfortu- 
nate event could not have occurred 
had a due co-operation been made 
by the troops of Georgia ; but the 
Indians must have been compelled 
either to surrender their persons or 
resign the power of doing any fur- 
ther mischief, under a less uncertain 
warranty. 

No little mortification was felt by 
the General at the fatal neglect of 
Colonel Milton. He had given the 
Colonel positive intimation that on a 
day certain, the enemy's position 
would be assailed, and even when 
the state of the weather combining 
with the obstructions of the wav, 



124 

procrastinated the march, he had 
conjr.ainicated the disappointment, 
and in either case, earnestly urged 
that the South bank of the Talla- 
poosa should be made secure ; yet 
was the admcmition slighted, and the 
unheeded Indians allowed to com- 
pass their departure. All that re- 
mained to be done under these cir- 
cumstances, — the army from Tennes- 
see was filed off towards the right, 
and the rear of the fugitives being 
overtaken, twenty-five of them were 
made prisoners. On the same day, 
Colonel Milton, having advanced five 
miles from his encampment at Fort 
Decatur, and. within four miles of 
Hoithlewalee, signified his intention 
to attack the town on that day. It 
so happened however, that a detach- 
ment of the General's army, which 
had succeeded in passing the creek, 
was already in possession of the 
town, and had in part demolished it. 



125 

Notwithstanding that a junction 
with the Georgia troops could be of 
little use, in the light of auxiliars,^ 
now that the Indians had contrived 
to escape, there was still a consider- 
ation which made their proximity 
highly gratifying. The supply of 
provisions with which the troops had 
proceeded from Fort Williams was 
now almost consumed. But as con- 
stant assurances had been made, 
that upon uniting with the troops of 
the South, an ample abundance would 
be had, their uneasiness on this score 
was dispelled, and the approach of 
the Southern army was hailed with 
the most cheering anticipations. 
The General took the earliest occa- 
sion to make known the limited 
means of his camp, and earnestly be- 
sought the Colonel to succour their 
necessities. Colonel Milton replied 
to his request by stating that he had 
forwarded some relief for the friend- 



126 

ly Indians, and that on the morrow 
he would lend a supply of provisions 
for the other troops, but that he did 
not conceive himself bound to fur- 
nish any. The General being tho- 
roughly convinced that the Colonel 
had the means of accommodating 
him if he were inclined, did not re- 
quest any more, but dropping the 
language of entreaty, demanded as- 
sistance. After representing the 
need experienced in his camp, he di- 
rected five thousand rations to be 
sent forthwith to meet the exigen- 
cies of the present, and ordered him 
and the forces he commanded to 
join him the next day by 10 o'clock.; 
— adding in plain words, " This or- 
der must be obeyed without hesita- 
tion." The order was punctually 
obeyed, and the two armies were at 
length united. The provisions that 
had been deposited in Fort Decatur 
were brought dawn, and the Gren* 



127 

eral procured for his troops a plenti- 
ful subsistence to which the defalca- 
tion of contractors had made and 
continued them strangers from the 
beginning of the campaign until now. 
If then it be asked what did Gene- 
ral Jackson effect by his categorical 
manner of transacting affairs with 
Colonel Milton ? The answer is rea- 
dy, the instant compHance produ- 
ced by the peremptory mandate led 
to a copious stock of good victuals, 
the system of his men was support- 
ed and their vigour sustained in time, 
against the fatigues of a most dis- 
tressing warfare. 

While General Jackson w as march- 
ing towards Hoithlewalee, he had 
been met by a flag purporting to 
come from Fous-hatchee, the aged 
prince of the Hickory Ground tribes, 
praying that hostilities might cease, 

and expressing the most positive asr 
12 



128 

surances that his own sentitnents 
were entirely pacific. Information 
was returned upon that occasion to 
the king, that the only pledge of an 
amicable disposition which could be 
regarded as such, was the departure 
of all the clans connected with the 
war measures, to some point North 
of the United States' establishment 
at Fort Williams. And now, after 
the junction of the Tennessee and 
Georgia troops, no fewer than four- 
teen distinguished warriors of the 
nation were present at the camp, to 
renew the professions of Fous- 
hatchee, the king, to report him as 
being then actually on his journey to 
repair with his people to the station 
prescribed ; and commissioned to 
solicit for that monarch the honour 
of waiting upon the General and 
paying him his devoirs. 

That tract of the country occupied 
by the Creeks which forms the sali- 



129 

ent angle at the confluence of the 
Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers was 
known amongst them by the appel- 
lation of The Holy Ground ; because 
they believed it a spot peculiarly con- 
secrated to the Indian race, and that 
its sanctity had been at no time vio- 
lated by the tread of a white person. 
It was, therefore, to be expected that 
religious enthusiasm would actuate 
the savages to bend their whole 
might in preserving undefiled from 
aggression this favoured place. 
Thither the General put the combin- 
ed troops in readiness to march. 

At the instant of commencinor the 
march, a message was dehvered from 
Colonel Milton, stating the inabihty 
of his brigade to move on, because 
that the night before some of the 
wagon horses had strayed, that per- 
sons had been despatched however 
in search of them, and that upon 
their coming in he should be ready 



130 

to proceed. The General declared 
that he thought a want of carriage 
horses a cause of interruption dis- 
proportioned to impede the progress 
of an army : twenty men he observ- 
ed might do the business of a team. 
However, he directed a few of the 
dragoons to dismour^t, and with their 
horses supplying the deficiency for 
the wagons, ordered the troops to 
march. This incident, the mention 
of which can work no disparagement 
to the military qualifications of Col- 
onel Milton, is merely given to ex- 
emplify the habitual resources of the 
General's invention upon every com- 
mon emergency. 

Upon his arrival at the Holy 
Ground, chiefs of tribes flocked eve- 
ry day to the camp, and made their 
acknowledgments, desiring to have 
peace and forgiveness vouchsafed to 
them, upon whatever conditions he 
might be pleased to dictate* The 



181 

General was uniformly assured by 
them all, that every malcontent of 
their community, had fled for a re- 
fuge in Pensacola, or along the coast 
of Florida. To these petitioners 
the answer already given was repeat- 
ed, namely, a departure North of 
Fort Williams and East of the Coo- 
sa, and they were no doubt very well 
satisfied with the easiness of the 
terms. 

By removing the savages of suspi- 
cious fidelity and doubtful character 
beyond the government post at Fort 
Williams, and East of the river Coo- 
sa, a total severance of intercourse 
with Florida w as made ; and more- 
over their position in the midst of the 
friendly Indians facilitated intelli- 
gence of all their measures, and lay 
open to immediate discovery what- 
ever schemes of hostility they might 



12* 



132 

devise, or machinations of war thejr 
might happen to concert. 

An experience of their dupHcity 
rendered their present submissive- 
ness in their humihation, too preca- 
rious a proof, to be relied upon as 
demonstrative evidence, of a change 
of mind. The General well knew 
that their castigation for unprovoked 
cruelties and violence had been 
smartly inflicted, and that they could 
not on a sudden forget it, however 
speciously a remembrance of it might 
at the moment be dissembled. He 
had reason to distrust the cordial 
earnestness in which they courted 
favour and solicited friendship. And 
surely the perils he had passed and 
the effusion of blood he had witness- 
ed in reducing them to a sense of 
their duty, or rather of their weak- 
ness, did not justify his hasty accept- 
ance of their professions, without 



133 

any substantive guaranty, as a pledge 
of their amicable disposition. 

To make trial of their good faith 
and as a slight criterion whereby to 
form an opinion of it, the General 
required of them to bring bound be- 
fore him the celebrated Weather- 
ford, of atrocious ftime, the chieftain 
who headed the assailants of Fort 
Mimms, and performed a conspicu- 
ous part in the horrid tragedy acted 
there. Weatherford learning that 
General Jackson insisted to have 
him in custody, and sensible that 
there was no possibility of evadmg 
the execution of the order, boldly re- 
solved to repair himself to the Gen- 
eral's camp, and offer his person in 
voluntary surrender; as a course 
which admitted of a less certain vi- 
sitation of condign punishment, than 
if, drawn forward in the guise of a 
culprit, he stood expectant of the 
penalty wh|ch natural law, and the 



134 

simple law of retaliation assuredly 
annexed to bloody deeds like his. 
Having passed undiscovered to the 
camp and obtained admission to the 
General's quarters, he advanced to- 
wards him with a steady mien and 
countenance undismayed; he said 
that his name was Weatherford, that 
it was he who commanded at Fort 
Mimms, and that desiring peace for 
himself and his people, he had come 
to ask it. The fJeneral astonished 
not a little at finding himself in such 
company, and under such circum- 
stances, after expressing his surprise 
that Weatherford should entertain a 
hope to meet with the lenity extend- 
ed to venial transgressors, concluded 
by teUing him, " I had directed that 
you should be brought to me confin- 
ed ; and had you appeared in this 
way, I should have known how to 
have treated you." Weatherford re- 
plied^ " I am in your power— do with 



135 

me as you please. I am a soldier. 
I have done the white people all the 
harm I could ; I have fought them, 
and fought them bravely : if I had an 
army, I would yet fight, and contend 
to the last ; but I have none ; my 
people are all gone. I can now do 
no more than weep over the misfor- 
tunes of my nation." Weatherford 
in truth by his self delivery and his 
manner of performing that act, had 
thrown the General into some little 
embarrassment to determine the 
process that should be observed in 
treating him. The belligerent rela- 
tion in which Weatherford stood to* 
wards the government of the United 
States, stripped his case in a great 
measure of its felonious bearings, 
and put it beyond the GeneraPs 
legitimate power to exercise over him 
criminal dominion. A midule course 
was judiciously adopted. He was 
given to understand that no absolute 



136 

injunction was imposed upon him to 
lay aside his arms and cultivate 
schemes of peace, but that he had it 
in his power to depart and begin 
again his operations of war ; never- 
theless he was admonished that if, 
being now a priso >f^r, he was set at 
large, his subsequent capture would 
place him in a perilous situation : 
that if he chose to remain and be- 
have inoffensively, he was at liberty 
to stay, and that he might expect 
the benefits of a full protection. 
With an air of perfect composure the 
sanguinary captive replied, that he 
owned he did covet peace for the 
sake of his nation, which had suffer- 
ed much through the ravages of war ; 
that their women and children had 
become destitute of provisions, their 
cattle carried off and their corn ne- 
glected ; "But," continued he, **I 
may be well addressed in such lan- 
guage now. There was a time when 



137 

I had a choice, and could have an- 
swered you : I have none now — even 
hope has ended, once I could animate 
my warriors to battle, but I cannot 
animate the dead. My warriors can 
no longer hear my voice : their bones 
are at Talladega, Talluschatchee, 
Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka. I have 
not surrendered myself thoughtless- 
ly. Whilst there were, chances of 
success, I never left my post, nor 
supplicated peace. But my people 
are gone, and I now ask it for my 
nation, and for myself. On the 
miseries and misfortunes brought 
upon my country, I look back with 
deepest sorrow, and wish to avert 
still greater calamities. If I had 
been left to contend with the Georgia 
army, I would have raised my corn 
on one bank of the river, and fought 
them on the other ; but your people 
have destroyed my nation. You are 
a brave man : I rely upon your gen- 



138 

eirosity. You will exact no terms of 
a conquered people but such as they 
should accede to: whatever they may 
be, it would now be madness and 
folly to oppose. If they are opposed, 
you shall find me amongst the stern- 
est enforcers of obedience. Those 
who would still hold out, can be in- 
fluenced only by a mean spirit of re- 
venge ; and to this they must not, 
and shall not sacrifice the last rem- 
nant of their country. You have 
told our nation where we might go ; 
and be safe. This is good talk and 
they ought to listen to it. They 
shall listen to it." Weatherford's 
frank discourse spoken in a bold 
and spirited manner left a favour- 
able impressicm of his sincerity on 
the mind of the General, who a 
few days afterwards permitted him 
to go with a small detachment 
through the forest in search of his 
old adherents, that by persuading 



139 

them to a timely submission, the na- 
tion might be preserved from the 
desolating consequences of a useless 
resistance. 

Proctor, the chief of the Owewoha 
clans, having solicited and obtained 
permission from the United States' 
agent to continue in the same posi- 
tion, had expressed his intention to 
disregard the General's order for re- 
moval, and remain in his Original 
district. As Proctor was among the 
first whose application was answer- 
ed, by a statement of the terms upon 
which security wa>* to be had ; this 
tampering conduct and double deal- 
ing of Proctor was jn? -ij deemed 
contumacious, and held to be an ex- 
ample of evil tendency. Wherefore 
the General conveyed intimation to 
the Ovve^Aoha chief, that he had his 
choice whether to take the advantage 

of the toieraiioa act of the agent, or 
13 



140 

to comply with Ms order, but that 
for his part he would consider it his 
duty to treat as enemies all that did 
not remove to the designated place. 
The chief made his election without 
a tedious demurrer, and set off with 
his warriors to reside North of Fort 
Williams and East of the Coosa. 

General Pinckney, the command- 
er in chief, arriving at the camp, 
gave his cordial approbation of the 
arrangement which General Jack- 
son had sagaciously made with the 
vanquished Indians. 

Chiefs from the various hostile 
villages were now coming every day 
in such numbers to proffer their 
humble duty, and acquiescence with 
whatever stipulations might be pro- 
posed, that General Pinckney was 
convinced a thorough pacification 
was virtually compassed. Besides 
the property which had been pillaged 
at Fort Mimms, the restoration of 



141 

which furnished hi itself a striking 
evidence of their sincere intentions, 
was industriously brought forward by 
parcels and promptly given back. 
The persuasion that the savages, 
crushed by the signal defeats which 
had recently befallen them, were 
heartily tired of waging hostilities 
and truly anxious that the war should 
terminate, was further confirmed by 
the report of Colonel Gibson. That 
officer had been sent to make a sur- 
vey along the Alabama river. He 
had descended the stream to a con- 
siderable distance, and demolished 
several war towns, but he learned no 
accounts of an embodied force being 
any where assembled. A post also 
was here garrisoned on the Hickory 
Ground, called in compliment of the 
General, Fort Jackson. By this 
castelhne erection, a chain of fortifi- 
cations was completed, stretching 



142 

to Tennessee from the Alabama river, 
and fro'ii the same river to Georgia* 

From such an agreeable coinci- 
dence of peaceful circumstances, 
General Pinckney was satisfied that 
a longer detention of the troops in 
service had become unnecessary. 
He ordered the Tennessee force to 
be marched homewards and discharg- 
ed; directing General Jackson to 
drop on the way an adequate number 
of men for the protection of the se- 
veral posts. On the third day ensu- 
ing, they reached Fort Williams. 
The General reported to the com- 
mander in chief that his orders had 
been so far complied with, that he 
had detailed four hundred soldiers 
for the safety of Fort Williams, and 
that he would leave at the other 
points a force correspondent to their 
exposed situations. In his letter he 
took occasion to say, " I shall march 
the remainder of my troops to Ten- 



143 

iiessee, where I shall discharge them : 
after which I shall no longer consider 
myself accountable for the manner 
in which the posts may be defended, 
or the line of communication kept 
open; — happy that the time for 
which I offered my services to my 
government, and the duties which 
they assigned me to perform, will 
have terminated together." 

At his official separation from his 
companions in arms, he pronounced 
the high opinion he entertained of 
their meritorious and exemplary con- 
duct, and the cordial attachment with 
which he felt himself drawn towards 
them : " Within a few days," said he, 
^*you have annihilated the power of 
a nation that for twenty years has 
been the disturber of your peace. 
Your vengeance has been satisfied. 
Wherever these infuriated alhes of 

our arch enemy assembled for battle, 

13* f 



144 

you pursued arid dispersed them. 
The rapidity of your movements has 
corresponded with the valour by 
which you have been animated. The 
bravery you have displayed in the 
field of battle, and the uniform g5od 
conduct you have manifested in your 
encampment, and on your line of 
march, will long be cherished in the 
memory of your General, and will 
not be forgotten by the country 
which you have so materially bene- 
fited." 

In the progress of his journey 
home, loud acclamations greeted his 
presence, and the people were every 
where emulous to express their res- 
pect for his talents, and to show their 
fervent gratitude for his patriotic la- 
bours in exerting those powerful 
abilities to redress the past wrongs 
of his fellow citizens, and to ensure 
their protection and safety against 
the time to come. 



145 

He now returned to enjoy the be- 
loved society of Mrs. Jackson. She 
had been very unfortunate in a prior 
marriage with an unprincipled man, 
who finding her amiable disposition 
unsuited to his profligate taste, after 
behaving towards her with great 
rndeness, flung her away from him — 
taking care, however, by legalising 
the separation, to set his mind at 
ease on the score of expense. It was 
at the house of her mother, the Gen- 
eral saw her. She was lovely and 
in distress, combining two attitudes 
of appearance — well asserted to car- 
ry a manly and sensitive bosom. 
Her charms tonched his heart and 
he loved her, whilst her uncommon 
merit, sanctioned in the eye of his 
prudential friends, the strong predi- 
lection her beauty had moved in his 
own. 



146 

CHAPTER III. 

The General negociates a compact 
with the Indians — Requires froin 
the Governor of Florida an ex- 
planation of his conduct — Colonel 
JSricholls arrives at Pensacola and 
puts forth an inflammatory Pro- 
clamation — The General drives 
the British from that city. 

The Indians having been made 

sensible of their inability to cope 
with the United States in hostile 
operations, the juncture was favoura- 
ble to impose upon them, during this 
conviction of their own weakness, 
some restrictive obligations that 
might in a formal way render their 
inoffensiveness less precarious ; and 
the government judiciously took ad- 
vantage of the occasion. That the 
treaty might possess the greater au- 
thority, the General, who was em- 



147 

ployed to conduct it, had instructions^ 
to model the terms in a military 
form, and impress the instrument 
with the character of a capitulation. 
The Creeks were required to in- 
demnify the United States for the 
expense of prosecuting the war, by a 
cession of so much denoted territory 
as might be deemed an equivalent. 
They were enjoined to admit into 
their country no agents or traders 
except those who should be furnish- 
ed with a license from the United 
States, and were also themselves to 
abstain from intercourse with any 
Spanish port, garrison, or town ; and 
by way of further security, the go- 
vernment was to be recognized as 
having a right to open roads through 
the Indian grounds, and to establish 
military posts and houses of trade. 

The Creeks had from time to time 
suffered the Cherokees to encroach 
upon their territory ; and now that 



148 

the question of surrender was to be 
agitated, the latter attempted todraw 
from the Creeks an acknowledgment 
of title to their usurpations, with the 
view of defeating the claim of the 
United States. But the artful pro- 
posal was met by a loconism of spe- 
eific slyness — the Creeks simply ob- 
serving, that since the pretended 
boundaries were not in earnest the 
boundaries of the Cherokees, it sure- 
ly was not for them (the Creeks) to 
give countenance to falsehood by es- 
tablishing that lie. 

The Big Warrior exerted his rough 
abilities to resist the demand of ter- 
ritorial cession, and after depicting 
in moving colours the wretchedness 
which would overtake his people if 
constrained to forego their usual man- 
ner of life, ventured to suggest, that 
althougli the United States might in 
justice exact indemnity for the ex- 
pense attending the war, yet the jce- 



149 

quisition was made before the time ; 
that the war had not been brought 
to a full termination ; that those who 
had fled might return again and com- 
mence the conflict anew. His efforts 
were strenuously supported by She- 
locta, who, having done the State con- 
siderable service, was not neglectful 
of embellishing the common cause by 
a display of his personal merits. The 
Indians seem to have presumed that 
by procrastinating the discussion, the 
council might dissolve without adopt- 
ing any definitive measures ; w here- 
by it would be in their power to 
evade compliance with the conditions 
which had been prescribed. But 
the General gave them to under- 
stand that he was not to be foiled — 
declaring to them explicitly, " You 
know," said he, " that the portion of 
country which you desire to retain, is 
that through which the intruders and 
mischief-makers from the lakes 



150 

reached you, and urged your nation 
to those acts of violence that have 
involved your people in wretchedness, 
and your country in ruin. Through 
it leads the path Tecumseh trod, 
when he came to visit you : that path 
must be stopped. Until this be done, 
your nation cannot expect happiness, 
nor mine security, I have already 
told you the reasons for demanding 
it : they are such as ought not — 
cannot be departed from. Tliis 
evening must determine whether or 
not you are disposed to become 
friendly. By rejecting the treaty you 
will show that you are the enemies 
of the United States — enemies even 
to yourselves." The unfinished state 
of the war gives an additional motive 
for the cession, that the troops may 
thus be able to distinguish and know 
their friends. '' When our armi^es," 
contamed he, '* cmne here, the hos- 
tile party had even stripped you of 



151 

your country: we re-took it, and now 
offer to restore it ; theirs we pro- 
pose to retain. Those who are dis- 
posed to give effect to the treaty, will 
sign it. They will be within our 
territory; will be protected and fed ; 
and no enemy of theirs, or ours, shall 
molest the Yi. Those who are op- 
posed to it shall have permission to 
retire to Pensacola. Here is the pa- 
per : take it, and show the President 
who are his friends. Consult, and 
this evening let me know who will 
assent to it, and who will not. I do 
not wish, nor will I attempt to force 
any of you ; act as you think proper." 
Whereupon a conference being 
straightway held upon the subject, a 
resolution was passed conceding to 
the United States the indemnifica- 
tion and security required. 

Great Britain turning a deaf ear 

to the remonstrances of this country, 
14 



152 

and sustaining her claims by means 
of force against the peaceful asser- 
tion of American rights, the execu- 
tive authority of the United States 
had resorted to a declaration of war, 
and at length the sword was produced 
to vindicate the cause of the plume. 
The asylum which the Indians had 
found in Florida became doubly 
dangerous now, that British agents 
could through that medium obtain 
facilities of communicating with 
those savages, and fanning into acti- 
vity their ferocious inclinations. 

Even while officially employed 
with the Creeks at Fort Jackson, the 
General's industrious care for the 
w^elfare of his country extended to 
another concernment in which its 
interests were no less seriously im- 
plicated. It appeared to his fore- 
seeing judgnent, that when the 
winter sol- tie • approached, and the 
severity of the weather interrupted 



153 

the Canadian campaign, the British 
forces would be withdrawn to the 
South, and that they would vigor- 
ously attempt to make an impression 
there. His anticipation was judi- 
ciously formed, and the inference of 
such a result deduced from premises 
that admitted of little dispute. First 
of all, the dubious character of the 
allegiance that attached to the 
American government the affiliated 
citizens of Louisiana, encouraged 
the British to expect a civil, if not a 
friendly reception among them. 
Again ; a numerous black population 
which overran the Southern country 
were disposed, to judge by their well 
known partialities, to abet, as far as 
lay in their power, a British invasion. 
As he was proceeding to Fort 
Jackson, our General learned that an 
English force to the number of three 
hundred, had actually landed at the 
mouth of the Appalachicola, had 



154 

erected fortifications, and were in- 
citing the savages to renew their 
hostihties against the United States. 
The General hastened to convey 
this information to the Secretary at 
War, and submitted to the consider- 
ation of government, as he had ear- 
nestly done before, the great expedf- 
ency and advantage of being in pos- 
session of Pensacola ; he urged not 
only the fitness but the justice also, 
of putting the key of the lower coun- 
try in our own pocket: "If," said 
he, " the hostile Creeks have taken 
refuge in Florida, and are there fed, 
clothed, and protected ; if the Bri- 
tish have landed a large force, muni- 
tions of war, and are fortifying and 
stirring up the savages ; will you only 
say to me, raise a few hundred mili- 
tia, which can be quickly done, and 
with such regular force as can be 
conveniently collected, make a de- 
scent upon Pensacola and reduce it ? 



155 

If so, I promise you the war in the 
South shall have a speedy termina- 
tion, and English influence be for- 
ever destroyed in this quarter." To 
this application, as well as to many 
others of the like tenour, he received 
no reply ; no instructions whatever 
from government upon the subject. 
But on the 17th of January, 1815, 
after the repulse of the British from 
New-Orleans, a letter from General 
Armstrong reached him through 
the Post office. The letter bore 
date at the city of Washington, the 
18th of July, 1814; at which time 
General Armstrong was Secretary 
at War. Its contents were : — " The 
case you put is a very strong one : 
and if all the circumstances stated 
by you, unite, the conclusion is irre- 
sistible. It becomes our duty to 
carry our arms where we find our 
enemies. It is believed and I am so 

14# 



156 

directetl by the President to sfiy, that 
there is a disposition on the part of 
the Spanish government, not to break 
with the United States, nor to encou- 
rage any conduct on the part of her 
subordinate agents, having a tenden- 
cy to such rupture. We must there-' 
fore in this case, be careful to ascer- 
tain facts, and even to distinguish 
what, on the part of the Spanish au- 
thorities, may be the effect of menace 
and compulsion, or of their choice 
and policy : the result of this inquiry 
must govern. If they admit, feed, 
arm, and co-operate with the British, 
and hostile Indians, we must strike 
on the broad principle of self-preser- 
vation : — under other and different 
circumstances, we must forbear." 

Had this letter arrived in due sea- 
son, the General would undoubtedly 
have felt himself free to pursue the 
course which his own judgment 
pointed out, and all the circumstan- 



157 

ces that could be wanted, justified 
him in following. The retardation of 
a paper of such high importance is tru- 
ly surprizing, and exhibits a strange 
fatality. Certain it is, that if it had 
come into his hands in ordinary time, 
the whole plan of the campaign 
would have had a turn widely differ- 
ent. Speaking on this subject, he 
said, " If this letter, or any hint that 
such a course would have been even 
connived at by the government, had 
been received, it would have been in 
my power to have captured the Bri- 
tish shipping in the bay. I would 
have marched at once against Bar- 
rancas, and carried it, and thus pre- 
vented any escape ; but acting on 
my own responsibility against a neu- 
tral power, it became essential for 
me to proceed with more caution 
than my judgment or wishes ajjprov- 
ed, and consequently important ad- 



158 

vantages were lost, which might have 
been secured." 

But situated in this awkward 
manner, with a stumbhng block in 
his way, he did what alone remained 
for him to do. Colonel Hawkins 
having procured for him the servi- 
ces of some confidential Indians ac- 
quainted with the route, he despatch- 
ed them to the Appalachicola and 
towards the coast, enjoining them to 
return upon gaining certain intelli- 
gence of the strength of the enemy, 
their position, and if attainable, their 
ulterior views. After a lapse of fif- 
teen days, the Indians came back 
with information that corroborated 
beyond question the tidings brought 
at the first. They reported that the 
English had made their appearance 
in considerable force ; that they were 
then in the Bay of St. Rose, and that 
muskets and ammunition had been 
freely distributed amongst the disaf- 



159 

fected Indians, to the several tribejs 
of whom messengers had been sent 
by the invaders, soliciting them to 
come down to the coast. Hereupon 
the General addressed a communi- 
cation to the governor of Florida, ac- 
quainting him with the intelligence 
that had been received, and desiring 
him to state upon what principles he 
regulated his conduct in harbouri g 
and giving encouragement to the 
avowed enemies of the United States, 
An evasive answer was returned, 
which drew from the General a more 
explicit and unreserved application. 
He despatched a messenger to lay 
before the governor the plain ground 
of his complaint, to gather from him 
a definite intimation of the course 
he designed to follow, and whether 
it was his intent to direct his steps 
by the line that was marked in the 
treaties subsisting between the two 
nations, or by taking crooked ways, 



160 

and adopting a sinister policy, to dis- 
guise the realities of war under the 
semblance of friendship. By this 
method he hoped to conclude the 
governor, and bring him at once to 
his ultimatum. The governor delib- 
erated for some time on the proprie- 
ty of condescending to make any re- 
ply at all. General Fournoy, acting 
in conformity to the orders of Mr. 
Madison, had heretofore omitted to 
answer a despatch of his. But after 
mature reflection upon this delicate 
point, he thought best to forego the 
satisfaction of a retaliating silence, 
and give an explanation, in obedience, 
as he said, to those " high and gener- 
ous feelings peculiar to the Spanish 
character." With respect to the In- 
dian chiefs who themselves commit- 
ted, and were the instigators of other 
savages who did commit, bloody atro- 
cities upon the persons of American 
citizens, and whom the General 



161 

sought to be given up to the execu- 
tion of justice; he averred that they 
were not "at that time" n^ithin the 
limits of his government ; that the 
rules of hospitality forbade him to 
turn them away unassisted in the 
moment of their abject distress ; and 
that he could not, if it were in his 
power, surrender them, without vio- 
lating the laws of nations, to which 
the king, his master, had ever strict- 
ly adhered, whereof ample proof was 
furnished to the United States, in his 
forbearance to demand of them, " the 
traitors, insurgents, incendiaries, and 
assassins of his chiefs, namely, 
Guiterres, Toledo, and many others, 
whom the American government pro- 
tected and maintained in committing 
hostilities — in fomenting the revolu- 
tion, and in lighting up the flames 
of discord in the internal provinces 
of the kingdom of Mexico." As- 
signing his motives for the permis- 



162 

sion he granted the English to bring 
arms and ammunition into his pro- 
vince to be placed in the hands of 
the Indians, wherewithal to render 
their hostile operations the more ef- 
fectual, he took occasion to ask, "if 
the United States were ignorant, 
that at the conquest of Florida, there 
was a treaty between Great Britain 
and the Creek Indians ; and whether 
they did not know, that it still exi.st- 
ed between Spain and those tribes ? 
But turn your eyes," said he, " to the 
iijjland of Barra^aria, and you will 
there perceive, that within the very 
territory of the United States, pirates 
are sheltered and protected, with the 
manifest design of committing hos- 
tilities by sea upon the merchant 
vessels of Spain ; and with such 
scandalous notoriety, that the car- 
goes of our vessels, taken by them, 
have been publicly sold in Louisiana." 
How a treaty between Great Britain 



163 

and the Creeks affected the Spanish 
authorities in their exercise of do- 
minion over the provinces of Florida, 
is not so obvious to conjecture, as 
Don Manrequez, from his manner of 
putting this question about the know- 
ledge of its existence, appears to 
have supposed. True it is that La- 
fite, and other freebooters of the high 
seas, had carried spoliated cargoes 
into Barrataria, and there obtained 
the proceeds of their phatical enter- 
prize. But their success on these 
occasions contravened the known 
law s and regulations of the country, 
and arose from the contrivances and 
clandestine arrangements of smu^- 
gling, so ingeniously planned, and 
dexterously managed, as to afford 
those lawless depredators an oppor- 
tunity to elude the vigilance of our 
government and set at nought its le- 
gal inhibitions. Whereas comfort 



164 

and succour were openly and pro- 
fusely given by the representative 
officers of Spain to the avowed and 
acrimonious foes of the United States, 
at a time when Spain professed, and 
\Vas by treaty bound to observe, an 
amicable conduct towards this re- 
public, and in virtue of those friend- 
ly ties was actually enjoying, as con- 
cerned belligerents, the rights and 
privileges of a neutral power. Yet 
Don Manrequez, the governor, fur- 
ther to show the sincerity of his good 
will, and the interest he felt in the 
concerns of tbe United States, took 
leave to censure the means that had 
been used to cancel the title of the 
Indians to the Alabama, and was 
kind to admonish the government of 
the necessity to obviate with timely 
precaution, the danger to which the 
country might soon be exposed, in 
consequence of the recent pacifica- 
tion of Europe. This explanation 



165 

fell short of giving to the General 
the complete satisfaction he desired. 
The governor appeared to him some- 
what obtrusive in his remarks, and 
in a style of corresponding loftiness, 
he replied to his excellency thus: 
" Were I clothed with diplomatic 
powers, for the purpose of discussing 
the topics embraced in the wide 
range of the injuries of which you 
complain, and which have so long 
since been adjusted, I could easily 
demonstrate that the United States 
have been always faithful to their 
treaties, steadfast in their friendships, 
nor have ever claimed any thing that 
was not warranted by justice. They 
have endured many insults from the 
governors and other officers of Spain, 
which, if sanctioned by their sove- 
reign, would have amounted to acts 
of hostility, without any previous de- 
claration on the subject. They have 
excited the savages to war, and af- 



166 

forded them the means of waging it : 
the property of our citizens has been 
captured at sea, and if compensation 
has not been refused, it has at least 
been withheld. But as no such 
powers have been delegated to me, 
I shall not assume them, but leave 
them to the representatives of our 
respective governments. 

"I have the honour of being en- 
trusted with the command of this 
district. Charged with its protec- 
tion, and the safety of its citizens, I 
feel my inability to discharge the 
task, and trust your excellency will 
always find me ready and willing to 
go forward, in the performance of 
that duty, whenever circumstances 
shall render it necessary. I agree 
with you perfectly, that candour and 
polite language should, at all times, 
characterize the communications be- 
tween the officers of friendly sove- 
reiiJfnties ; and I assert without the 



167 

fear of contradiction, that my former 
letters were couched in terms the 
most respectful and unexceptionable. 
I only requested, and did not demand, 
as you have asserted, that the ring- 
leaders of the Creek confederacy 
might be delivered to me, who had 
taken refuge in your town, and who 
had violated all laws, moral, civil and 
divine. This I had a right to do, 
from the treaty which I sent you, and 
which J now again enclose, with a 
request that you will change your 
translator; believing, as I do, that 
your former one was wrong, and has 
deceived you. What kind of an an- 
swer you returned, a reference to 
your letter will explain- The whole 
of it breathed nothing but hostility, 
grounded upon assumed facts, and 
false charges, and entirely evading 
the inquiries that had been made. 
15* 



168 

"I can but express my astonish- 
ment at your protest against the ces- 
sion on the Alabama, lying within 
the acknowledged limits and juris- 
diction of the United States, and 
which has been ratified in due form, 
by the principal chiefs and warriors 
of the nation. But my astonishment 
subsides, when on comparison, I find 
it upon a par with the rest of your 
letter and conduct ; taken together, 
they afford a sufficient justification 
for any course on my part, or conse- 
quences that may ensue to yourself. 
My government will protect every 
inch of her territory, her citizens and 
their property, from insult and de- 
predation, regardless of the political 
revolutions of Europe ; and although 
she has been at all times sedulous to 
preserve a good understanding with 
all the world, yet she has sacred 
rights, that cannot be trampled upon 
with impunity. Spain had better 



169 

look to her own intestine commo- 
tions, before she walks forth in that 
majesty of strength and power, 
which you threaten to draw down 
upon the United States." 

But notwithstanding the rehictancc 
of Don Manrequez, the governor, to 
satisfy the General with an explicit 
disclosure of the facts, he contrived 
through another medium to attain 
the information he coveted to pos- 
sess. Captain Gordon, who had re- 
paired to Pensacola for the purpose 
of noting the occurrences there, hav- 
ing returned to Fort Jackson, ac- 
quainted him that he had seen be- 
tween one hundred and fifty and two 
hundred soldiers and officers, with a 
park of artillery, and likewise about 
five hundred Indians dressed in Bri- 
tish uniform, armed with new mus- 
kets, and under the drill of British 
officers. 



170 

A critical period had now arrived 
to quicken the powerful energies of 
his capacious mind, and to draw 
forth our General to an exhibition 
of the qualifications he possessed to 
bear the national aegis around a 
mighty people in the hour of theif 
exigency, and menaced on all sidesJ* 
Expediting the settlement of his bu- 
siness at Fort Jackson, he hastened 
to Mobile that plans might be devised, 
and dispositions formed with prompt- 
itude, for the defence of the Southern 
country. Strongly impressed by the 
news from Pensacola, he again pre- 
sented his opinions before the ad- 
ministration, of the folly to use long- 
er forbearance towards the Spanish 
authorities in Florida, the kind of 
treatment their insolence and un- 
friendly partialities deserved, and 
the important benefits to be gained 
from having the disposal of those 
fortresses which the officers of Spain 



171 

were lendino- for the accommodation 
and security of the hostile savagewS, 
and were Hterally appropriating now 
to facilitate the invasion of the trans- 
atlajttic enemy. Previous to his de- 
parture, lie ordered the warriors of 
the different tribes to be marshalled, 
and retained by pay in the service of 
the United States. He likewise ad- 
dressed the governors of Tennessee, 
Louisiana, and Mississippi, entreat- 
ing their efficient co-operation, and 
exhorting them to vigilance and ac- 
tivity, with many bold and patriotic 
touches of eloquence. At this time 
the regular force under his command 
consisted of only the 8rd regiment, 
a part of the 39th, and a part of the 
44th. 

There being now many cogent 
reasons for desiring the service of a 
numerous body of troops, and aware 
of the delay inseparable from per- 
fecting militia requisitions, he sent 



172 

Colonel Butler, his Adjutant Gen- 
eral, to Tennessee, for the purpose 
of raising a volunteer force, that 
some additional assistance might be 
ready at hand to act upon the spur 
of any sudden occasion. Symptoms 
of a bold attempt were soon after 
his arrival at Mobile, conspicuously 
evident, and therefore he wrote to 
the Colonel to expedite his levy, and 
join him with all practicable speed. 
Colonel Butler was not remiss to give 
prompt attention to the General's 
letter ; he also mdustriously urged 
forward Colonel Lowry's militia, 
which had been employed in the se- 
veral garrisons established through 
the Indian country. Captain Baker 
and Captain Butler, with the regular 
troops that were lately enlisted, set 
out from Nashville with commenda- 
ble activity, and reached Mobile in 
the space of fourteen days. Direct 
application was made to Genera! 



173 

Coffee, to advance with the cavalry 
which he might be able to collect, 
A public circular was at the same 
time distributed amongst the people, 
setting forth the alarming danger of 
the country, and inviting all who took 
an interest in the preservation of their 
liberty and free institutions,to rendez- 
vous at Fa^etteville, on a day appoint- 
ed. No fewer than two thousand men, 
well provided with rifles and muskets, 
assembled together at the designated 
place, on the very day, though some 
of them had to travel four hundred 
miles over very rugged roads at a 
very wet period of the year ; a volun- 
tary journey of patriotism, less credi- 
ble than romantic, to be told in a land 
of conscription, but in these United 
States the story would be heard with 
patience, nay, even believed from the 
lips of a doubtful narrator, who did 
not neglect to say at the end of his 
statement, that the summons wai» 



174 

undersigned by the name of the va- 
liant and successful General Coffee. 
Whatever delicacy may have ope- 
rated to withhold the (leneral from 
reducing Pensacola, was superseded 
by the necessity of the measure upon 
its positive occupation by Colonel 
NichoUs, who assuming the character 
of a liberator, invited the Southern 
people to range themselves under his 
standard, and addressed them with 
the following pompous harangue :* 



* Natives of Louisiana! On you the first call 
is made, to assist in liberating fronx a faithless, 
imbecile government, your paternal soil; Span- 
iards, Frenchmen, Italians, and British, whether 
settled, or residing for a time in Louisiana, on 
you, also, I call, to aid me in this just cause: the 
American usurpation in this country must be abo- 
lished, and the lawful owners of the soil put in 
possession. I am at the head of a large body of 
Indians, well armed, disciplined, and command- 
ed by British officers — a good train of artillery, 
with every requisite, seconded by the powerful 
aid of a numerous British and Spanish squadron 
of ships and vessels of war. Be not alarmed. 



175 

It is doubtful whether Colonel 
Nicholls was delegated to act in the 

inhabitants of the country, at our approach; the 
same good faith and disinterestedness, which has 
distinguished the conduct of Britons in Europe, 
accompanies them here; you will have no fear of 
litigious taxes imposed on you for the purpose of 
carrying on an unnatural and unjust w^ar; your 
property, your laws, the peace and tranquility 
of your country, will be guaranteed to you by 
men who will suffer no infringement of theirs; 
rest assured that these brave red men only butn 
wnth an ardent desire of satisfaction for the 
WTongs they have suffered from the Americans; 
to join you in liberating these Southern provinces 
from their yoke, and drive them into those limits 
formerly prescribed by my sovereign. The Indi- 
ans have pledged themselves, in the most solemn 
manner, not to injure, in the slightest degree, the 
persons or properties of any but enemies. A flag 
over any door, whether Spanish, French, or Bri- 
tish, will be a certain protection; nor dare any In- 
dian put his foot on the threshold thereof, u.ider 
penalty of death from his own country m.en; not 
even an enemy will an Indian put to death, ex- 
cept resisting in arms; and as for injuring help- 
less women and children, the red men by their 
good conduct, and treatn^ent to them, will (if it 
16 



i^ 



176 

character which he represented him- 
self to bear. His pains were less 



be possible,) make the Americans blush for their 
more inhuman conduct, lately on the Escambia, 
and within a neutral territory. 

Inhabitants of Kentucky, you have too long 
borne with grievous impositions — the whole brunt 
of the war has fallen on your brave sons; be im- 
posed on no longer, but either range yourselves 
under the standard of your forefathers, or ob- 
serve a strict neutrality. If you comply with 
either of these offers, whatever provisions you 
send down, will be paid for in dollars, and the safe- 
ty of the persons bringing it, as well as the free 
navigation of the Mississippi, guaranteed to you. 

Men of Kentucky, let me call to your view, 
(and I trust to your abhorrence) the conduct of 
those factions which hurried you into this civil, 
unjust, and unnatural war, at a time when Great 
Britain was straining every nerve, in defence of 
her own, and the liberties of the world — when 
the bravest of her sons were fighting and bleed- 
ing in so sacred a cause — when she was spending 
millions of her treasure in endeavouring to pull 
down one of the most formidable and dangerous 
tyrants that ever disgraced the form of man—- 
when groaning Europe was almost in her last 
gasp — when Britons alone showed an undaunted 
front — basely did tliose assassins endeavour to 



177 

liberally requited if he was so em- 
ployed, than might be expected, from 
the wonted munificence of the Bri- 
tish government, whose bounty has 
been at times extended to private 
spies and informers. The Colonel 
brought two Indian chiefs along with 
him to England, but finding his hos- 
pitahty too expensive for his means, 



stab her from the rear; she has turned on them,, 
renovated from the bloody but successful struggle; 
Europe is happy and free, and she now hastens, 
justly, to avenge the unprovoked insult. Show 
them that you are not collectively unjust: leave 
that contemptible few to shift for themselves: let 
those slaves of the tyrant send an embassy to El- 
ba, and implore his aid; but let every honest, up- 
right American spurn them with united contempt 
After the experience of twenty-one years, can you 
longer support those brawlers for liberty, who 
call it freedom, when themselves are free? Be 
no longer their dupes — accept of my offers — eve- 
ry thing I have promised in this paper, I guar?in- 
to you, on the sacred honour of a British officer. 
Given under my hand, at my Head- Quarters ^ 
Pensacola, this 29th day of August, 1814. 
Edward Nicholls. 



178 

it is said, that he hinted rather 
broadly to his guests, after many 
fruitless applications to the govern- 
ment to be assisted in the cost of hi^ 
table, that no detainer would be serv- 
ed upon them, if they had grown 
weary of roast beef and desired to 
return to the enjoyment of their veni- 
son. His actions received no pub- 
lic avowal from the ministers. When 
Mr. Whitbread, in the House of 
Commons, accused the crown ad- 
visers with the cruel meanness of 
inciting the savages to butcher the 
peaceful inhabitants ; Lord Cas- 
tlereagh got rid of the difficulty, as 
his manner was, when he found him- 
self either unable or iwUtically dis- 
inclined to confront it, by escaping 
from the charge, smoothing his way 
with that insipid oiliness which mark- 
ed the general style of his discourse. 
This doubtfulness gathers further 
probability from the very character 



179 

of Colonel Nicliolls, who rates as a 
shallow fool-hardy sort of man, less 
considerate than pushing and cou- 
rageous, and might be named the 
Captain Bobadil of the British ma- 
rines. A respectable officer attached 
to the marine corps, who made one 
of a small evening party, talking of 
Colonel Nicholls, observed, that he 
had done his best to serve hi^ king 
and country, but that nothing could 
be more irksome than to sit and 
listen to him blowing up the air 
drawn glories of his own achieve- 
ments. 

The proclamation he put forth 
was adopted well enough to impress 
individuals of principles already cor- 
rupted, and to excite to activity such 
as had a disrelish for the republican 
system of the United States. There 
are no persuasive charms in the com- 
position, nor is there much force in 
16* 



180 

the reasoning whereby to affect ei- 
ther the fancies or the understand- 
ings of the people. The paper was 
nevertheless calculated to work mis- 
chief, and surely it was not to be 
tolerated, that the author of an in- 
flammatory publication., in a moment 
of actual war, sliould be employed in 
a neutral territory as the revolution- 
izer of a friendly power. But when 
it is considered that this territory 
was not only neutral, but adjoining, 
and virtually constituting a portion of 
the same integral soil, and was 
moreover disposted a vast distance 
from the dominions of the enemy, and 
such was the case of Florida ; it be- 
comes a proposition which establishes 
its own vahdity, that General Jack- 
son, being entrusted with the pro- 
tection of the South, was in duty 
bound, to read Don Manrequez a 
practical lesson, by which he might 
learn the impropriety of entertaining 



181 

Colonel Nicholls as his guest, and 
behaving towards all his British vi- 
sitors in a corresponding manner of 
inconsiderate hospitality. It was 
even ascertained that the national 
flag of Britain plajed from the forts, 
associated with that of Spain. No- 
thing could have restrained the Gen- 
eral from directly proceeding to Pen- 
sacola, but a sense of the danger 
that might arise if he left Mobile in 
a state of destitution. And upon 
this account he awaited the advance 
of General CoiFee with the Tennes- 
see volunteers. 

Meantime he devoted every hour 
with ardent zeal to make defensive 
preparations; and Fort Bowyer claim- 
ed his particular attention. Fort Bow- 
yer is situated on the extremity of a 
narrow neck of land, about eighteen 
miles below the head of Mobile bay, 
and coimmands the entrance into it, 
and all those rivers which, emptying 



182 

into the bay, communicate with the 
Indian country ; and yet the govern- 
ment had hitherto bestowed but lit- 
tle of its care in improving this val- 
uable fortress. The General from 
his coming to Mobile, had not ceased 
to regard it with a serious eye, and 
to contribute to its strength. He 
entrusted the command to Major 
Lawrence, and the seqifel proves 
that he was not mistaken in the ex- 
pectations he had formed of that 
skilful and intrepid officer. 

On the 13th of September, 1814, 
Colonel Nicholls, with a considera- 
ble force of marines, Spaniards and 
Indians, commenced his operations 
against Fort Bowyer, seconded by 
water with four vessels, two of them 
brigs, and two schooners. But not- 
withstanding a powerful assault was 
made, and for some days maintained 
with the vigorous obstinacy the im- 
portance of carrying it called forth, 



the enemy re'tired again to Pensa- 
cola, having lost in this attempt a 
very excellent vessel and many lives. 
Accounts had recently found their 
way, that mighty preparations were 
going forward in England, to send a 
p< werfnl body of troops across the 
Atlantic, destined to act against the 
lower country. Still therefore the 
more anxiously was General Coffee 
expected. At length the gratifying 
intelHgence arrived, that General 
Coflee had reached a spot not far 
distant from Fort St. Stephens, on 
the Mobile river ; and that, his ori- 
ginal force being augmented by sun- 
dry accessions while on his march, 
he had now under him nearly three 
thousand men. Straightway the 
General proceeded to join him on 
the 26th of October, and lost not a 
moment to set all things in readiness 
for accomplishing his long projected 
visit to Pensacola. His greatest dif- 



184 

liculty was the same which in com- 
mon life, retards the execution of 
many an enterprize — the insufficient 
cy of means. The quarter masters 
had no money to give, and the 2^ood 
faith of the government was a doubt- 
ed pledge. In this dilemma the 
General, partly by using his person- 
al funds, and partly by raising sums 
on his own responsibility, contrived 
to make an economical provision for 
the troops on the 2d of November, 
and started forthwith on his favour- 
ite expedition. In a few days he 
halted his army about a mile and a 
half from the town. And although 
it was a measure of necessity to dis- 
lodge the British, yet his plan having 
never received suitable encourage- 
ment from his government, he was 
anxious to show the Spaniards that 
his conduct was not the result of any 
unfriendly disposition towards them, 
but impelled solely by the urgency of 



185 

his sitiiatioiv ; and therefore he pre- 
ferred a short trial at negotiation to 
striking an instantaneous blow. Ac- 
cordingly he despatched Major Piere 
of the 44th regiment, with a (lag, to 
acquaint the Governor that he had 
come to require the forts of Barran- 
cas, St. Rose, and St. Michael to be 
held by the United States, until Spain 
was enabled by an adequate force to 
protect her own province, and pre- 
serve unimpaired her neutral charac- 
ter. The Major was charged to un- 
fold with candour his commission, 
and to ask a reply to his embassage 
equally frank and explicit. As the 
Major approached the fort of St. 
Michael, a fire was opened upon him, 
and he was obliged to return without 
an interview. There was now but 
a moment left to balance, between 
a second attempt to gain a peaceful 
occupation, or to seize on Pensacola 
by force of arms. It happened op- 



186 

porfunely that a Spanish corporal 
was in the camp : him therefore the 
General employed to be the carrier 
of another communication. He, 
upon this occasion, desired to know 
upon what account the flag that had 
been sent was insulted, instead of 
any spirit of concihation being mani- 
fested towards the United States. 
The governor in his answer protest- 
ed that the English were to be blamed 
for the outrage co»mmitted on the 
flag, and that he was ready to enter- 
tain whatever proposals the General 
might be pleased to make. The 
governor's answer was a very accept- 
able one, upon the whole ; his own 
good sense indeed made it plain to 
the General that if the Spaniards 
themselves did the offensive act, it 
was not of themselves they acted. 
By a handsome apology, free from 
evasion, the governor would have 
consulted ** those high and honoura- 



187 

ble feelings so peculiar to the Spa- 
nish character," much more appro- 
priately than by offering an exculpa- 
tion which was already very well un- 
derstood. It was mean in him to do 
so ; and it is worthy of remark, that 
shifting the onus of their guilt from 
their own shoulders to others', was 
the second instance of depravity 
shown by the first transgressors/ 
But the ending clause, to wit, ^* that 
the governor was ready to entertain 
any overtures the General might be 
pleased to make," was a piece of 
most joyful news, for if the General 
could but obtain possession of Fort 
Barrancas and the other forts pre- 
vious to the British gaining intelli- 
gence of that event, their shipping 
in the bay would be deprived of an 
ability to escape into the outer chan- 



* See Genesis, 3rd chapter, versesl2 and 13. 
17 



188 

nel, and be locked up in complete 
duress. In the hope of attaining an 
object so superlatively to be desired, 
he again deputed Major Piere to 
wait upon the intendant, and deliver 
to him a paper, in which he stated, 
" I come not as the enemy of Spain ; 
not to make war, but to ask for 
peace ; to demand security for my 
country, and that respect to which 
she is entitled and mu.^t receive. 
My force is sufficient, and my deter- 
mination taken, to prevent a future 
repetition of the injuries she has re- 
ceived. I demand, therefore, the 
possession of the Barrancas, and 
other fortiiScations, with all your mu- 
nitions of war. If delivered peacea- 
bly, the whole will be receipted for 
and become the subject of future ar- 
rangement by our respective govern- 
ments ; while the property, laws, and 
religion of your citizens shall be res- 
pected. But if taken by an appeal 



' 189 

to arms, let their blood be upon your 
own head. I will not hold myself 
responsible for the conduct of my 
enraged soldiers. One hour is given 
you for dehberation, when your de- 
termination must be had." The an- 
swer was dissentient. The General 
put his army in motion. To mislead 
the expectations of the British he 
ordered a detachment of five hun- 
dred men to advance along that road 
which was direct to the city from his 
encampment ; and the feint succeed- 
ing to impress the opinion that he 
would approach the same way, the 
vessels were ranged and the guns 
pointed as if such in reaHty had been 
his intention. But taking a difler- 
ent course with the main strength of 
his army, he was first perceived on 
the Eastern side of the town, too far 
distant from the flotilla to be reach- 
ed, and thence pushing forward, was 
presently in the streets under cover 



190 

of the houses. Here the temporary 
batteries gave the troops some annoys 
ance, but the oppugnation did not 
continue long. The governor him- 
self bearing in mind Jackson's decla- 
ration that "he would not hold him- 
self responsible for the conduct of 
his enraged soldiers, unless a peace- 
able delivery was made/' ran hastily 
in quest of the General, and in mani- 
fest agitation of all his sensibilities 
implored his tenderness — promising 
to surrender all the forts, arsenals, 
and munitions of war, and to do what- 
ever else might be required. Fort 
Barrancas, lying fourteen miles be- 
low the town, could not be safely vi- 
sited till the other forts were proper- 
ly secured ; and in the meantime the 
British destroyed it by explosion, an 
occurrence which was extremely 
mortifying. After a lapse of two 
days the General withdrew his force 
from Pensacola, and returned to 



191 

Mobile. The troops cannot be too 
highly commended for their mode- 
rate and correct behaviour while they 
continued to possess the city. Be- 
fore he departed, the General ad- 
dressed a note to governor Manre- 
quez, laying down specifically the 
causes wherefore he had entered in- 
to his province, and concluding thus : 
" As the Barrancas and the adjacent 
fortresses have been surrendered to 
and blown up by the British, contra- 
ry to the good faith I had reposed in 
your promises, it is out of my power 
to protect and guard your neutrality, 
as otherwise I should have done. 
The enemy has retreated, the hos- 
tile Creeks have fled for safety to the 
forest ; and I now retire from vour 
town, leaving you to re-occupy your 
forts, and protect the rights of your 
citizens." 
17* 



192 

At Mobile he awaited with anx- 
ious expectation the arrival of Gen- 
eral Winchester, that he might in- 
vest him with the command there, 
and set out himself for New Orleans. 
He directed General Coffee and 
Colonel Hinds with the dragoons 
from the territory, to proceed towards 
New Orleans, and to occupy, as forage 
might be conveniently procured for 
the horses, some centrical point 
whence they might be summonsed 
with readiness wherever need re- 
quired. Colonel Hayne, the inspec- 
tor general, was sent to the mouth of 
the Mississippi to examine its bank 
for the purpose of ascertaining 
whether there was along that river 
such a commanding position as by 
the aid of batteries would hinder an 
ascent, should one be attempted by 
the enemy there. 

And now, learning that General 
Winchester had come to the Alaba- 



19S 

ma river ; on the 22d day of Novem- 
ber, he left Mobile, ami arrived at 
New Orleans on the 1st of December. 



CHAPTER IV. 
The British make an Assault on 
New Orleans; and are overthrown 
by the defensive contrivances of 
the General, 

Letters from Pensacola, particu- 
larly one addressed to Commodore 
Patterson, announced the arrival of 
the British armament. The letter 
addressed to the Commodore, bear- 
ing date 4th December, stated that 
a large force of the enemy w^as de- 
scried off that port, and that New- 
Orleans was commonly understood 
to be the object of attack. The 
writer proceeded to say, " it amounts 
at present to about eighty vessels, 
and more than double that number 
are momentarily looked for to form 



194 

a junction ; when an irnnfiediate com- 
mencement of their operations will 
take place. I am not able to learn 
how, when, or where the attack will 
be made ; but I understand they have 
vessels of all descriptions, and a large 
body of troops. Admiral Cochrane 
commands; and his ship, the Ton- 
nant, hes, at this moment, just out- 
side the bar. They certainly appear 
to have swept the West Indies of 
troops, and probably no means will 
be left untried, to obtain their object. 
The Admiral arrived only yesterday 
noon." 

Every hour added fresh weight of 
testimony that the British were at 
hand, and every day witnessed new 
exemplifications of our General's 
industry ami care. He was constant- 
ly engaged in devising measures, or 
personally employed in the superin- 
tendence of their execution. 



195 

Lieutenant Jones who command- 
ed the gun boats, was ordered to 
watch the motions of the EngHsh 
fleet, which, it had been discovered, 
lay off Ship Island, and to oppose 
with his flotilla, the landing of the 
enemy. He continued to hover in 
the vicinity of Ship Island, until the 
12th of December, when finding that 
the strength of the British had re- 
ceived a considerable augmentation, 
he retired to a station close to Mal- 
heureux Isle, whence he could more 
easily withdraw to the Rigolets, and 
at the Rigolets he was expressly in- 
structed to form his boats for battle. 
Perceiving on the 13th that an attack 
was about to be made, he lifted his 
anchors in order to recede to the 
moorings prescribed. But his aim 
was defeated by a strong wind that 
had blown for several days from the 
lake towards the gulf, which by drift- 
ing away the water bad not only ren- 



196 

dered the deepest parts too shallow 
to float the vessels, but occasioned 
an impetuous current adverse to the 
proposed navigation. Oarage proving 
ineflfectual, every article of weight 
that could be spared, was heaved 
overboard, but to no purpose. Final- 
ly, however, the tide rescued them 
from their perilous situation; and 
they cleared their pursuers, and an- 
chored at 1 o'clock the next morning 
on the West passage of Malheureux 
Isle. Day light appearing, they ob- 
served the English barges under way 
towards them, and were again pre- 
vented from reaching the Rigolets 
by the same causes which obstructed 
their attempts the day before. Con- 
strained to meet or strike to the foe, 
in the very quarter wherein they 
were at the time, the best position 
admissible was taken, and prepara- 
tions were made for an engageii ent. 
The issue of the contest was disas- 



197 

trous ; but considering the vast in- 
equality of strength, the fight by no 
means soiled the honours of the star 
spangled banner. The British are 
silent with respect to the amount of 
the force produced on their side, as if 
they were themselves persuaded that 
success rather followed their under- 
taking than victory crowned their en- 
ter|)rise. 

The General happened to be at 
the lakes, whither he had gone to 
survey the works directed to be 
raised, when accounts were brought 
to him of this misfortune. He was 
greatly effected upon hearing it ; for 
the opportunities of gaining intelli- 
gence by water, ended with the loss 
of the flotilla. 

Expresses were sent off immedi- 
ately to General Coffee to urge for- 
ward the Kentucky and Tennessee 
troops with all possible haste. In 
his forcible manner, he said in im 



198 

letter to General Coffee, " You must 
not sleep, until you reach me, or ar- 
rive within vstriking distance. Your 
accustomed activity is looked for. 
Innumerable defiles present them- 
selves, where your services and rifle- 
men will be all important. An op- 
portunity is at hand to reap for your- 
self and brigade the approbation of 
your country." General Coffee obey- 
ed the summons with amazing cele- 
rity, hastening his march with such 
expedition, that he formed his en- 
campment withm four mdes' distance 
from New Orleans, in less than five 
days after the date of the General's 
communication, which came into his 
hands while at the intermediate po- 
sition he had recently taken, upwards 
of one hundred and thirty miles from 
the city. With equal speed Colonel 
Hinds arrived at the head of his 
dragoons; while General Carroll, 
having on his route down the Mis- 



199 

sissippi overtaken a boat laden with 
arms, which were now so very much 
needed, gave no Httle joy by an- 
nouncing his advance with that ac- 
ceptable appendage in his train. 

All the troops, except those of 
Kentucky had now come forward, 
and the General had the gratifica- 
tion to witness the most prompt 
alacrity evinced by his officers, in 
meeting his wishes to the full ex- 
tent. 

But his mind laboured under the 

most perplexing uneasiness, when he 

considered the universal apathy which 

obtained, and the strong reason for 

suspecting that treason lurked in the 

hearts of some powerful men. The 

legislature of the state haJ decreed 

an embargo. The General saw in 

the act an encroachment, however 

defensible, upon congressional povr- 

ers ; and the necessity of the tunes 
18 



200 

which dictated the embargo ap- 
peared to his contemplation of it, to 
suggest with equal force the pn prie- 
ty of rendering the writ of habeas 
corpus inoperative, during the con- 
tinuance of this alarming juncture. 
He had lately received a communi- 
cation from governor Claibourne, in 
which, adverting to the course which 
the General pursued to strike from 
the hands of the British the in- 
strument of hostility they had found 
in Pensacola, his excellency pointed- 
ly says — *' Enemies to the country 
may blame your prompt and ener- 
getic measures; but in the person 
of every patriot you will find a sup- 
porter. I am well aware of the lax 
police of this city, and indeed of the 
whole state with respect to strangers. 
I think with you that our country is 
filled with traitors and spies, (hi 
this subject I have written pressing- 
ly to the city authorities, and pari>^h 



201 

judges. Some regulations, I hope, 
will be adopted by the first, and 
greater vigilance be exercised in fu- 
ture by the latter." Having found 
that in this perilous situation of 
things, when the British were about 
to land to a certainty, and the point 
of landing at which to give them op- 
position alone unknown, when the 
discontented were longing for the 
slightest encouragement to become 
truants to their country, finding that 
at this very moment, the legislature, 
instead of coming to a positive con- 
clusion at once, upon the subject, 
treated his proposal to suspend the 
Habeas Corpus, as a theme of decla- 
mation, he boldly ventured for the 
public good, to assume the resposi- 
bility himself, and declared "New 
Orleans and its environs to be under 
martial law." It was provided that 
all persons entering the city, should 
immediately report themselves to the 



202 

Adjutant General ; or failing to do 
so, be arrested and detained for ex- 
amination. None were to depart 
from it, or be suffered to pass beyond 
the chain of sentinels, but by per- 
mission from the commanding Gene- 
ral, or one of the staff: nor was any 
vessel or craft to be permitted to sail 
on the river, or the lakes, but by the 
same authority, or a passport signed 
by the commander of the naval forces* 
The lamps were to be extinguished 
by 9 o'clock at night ; after which 
time, all persons found in the streets, 
or from their respective homes, with- 
out permission in writing, signed as 
above, were to be arrested as spies, 
and detained for examination. 

If the awful danger to which the 
land was exposed, be taken into con- 
sideration, and the discordant opin- 
ions of a mixed community, by the 
jarring elements of which, one uni- 
versal wreck was threatened, surely 



203 

the candid judgment will decide that 
the preceding regulations were no 
less moderate than necessary. And 
yet, the legislative body of Louisiana 
took umbrage against the General, 
for prescribing these rules of needful 
austerity, influenced by technical 
niceties of abstract doctrines, and a 
captiousness on account of constitu- 
tional forms, unworthy the good sense 
of that enlightened assembly. He 
proclaimed martial law "under a 
solemn conviction that the country 
committed to his care, could, by such 
a measure alone, be saved from utter 
ruin ; and from a religious belief, 
that he was performing the most im- 
portant and sacred duty. By it he 
intended to supersede such civil pow- 
ers, as in their operation, interfered 
with those he was obliged to exercise. 
He thought, that at such a moment, 
constitutional forms should be sus- 
18* 



204 

pended, for the preservation of con- 
stitutional rights; and that there 
could be no question, whether it 
were better to depart, for a moment, 
from the enjoyment of our dearest 
privileges, or to have them wrested 
from us for ever. 

Thus did our General wake and 
watch for all — externally fortifying 
the city, and at the same time, guard- 
ing it against the internal machina- 
tions of the ill disposed amongst its 
own citizens. 

Notwithstanding small gun boats 
plied the lakes, and scouts were dis- 
persed in all directions, the British 
forces landed unperceived, and the 
first notice of their debarkation, was 
the actual discovery of the hostile 
troops issuing from the swamp and 
woods, seven miles below the city. 

The General, reflecting that his 
own soldiers had been well inured 
to the fatigues of marching, and 



205 

were then fresh to undergo thenij 
whilst those of the enemy were spent 
by the hardships and weariness of 
navigation, and therefore unfit to 
exert their usual powers of body, 
whatever they might be ; and soUcit- 
ous to gain even a shght advantage 
in the beginning, that his troops might 
feel their own significance, and drop 
the superstitious awe with which they 
might have been impressed by the 
idea of antagonists used to blood and 
familiar with victory ; determined 
to make trial of the invaders the 
very day he heard of them setting 
foot on land, which was about 1 
o'clock in the afternoon of the 23d of 
December. 

The signal guns were fired and 
the several divisions of the army 
drawn together in hurried concen- 
tration. The rough clangour and 
military bustle preparatory to going 
forth to the field of battle, over- 



206 

stretched the sensibilities of the 
women, who now, unable longer to 
stifle their apprehensiveness, and 
restrain their emotions, burst into 
open sobs or dissolved in tears. 
The General pitying their distress, 
curbed his prancing steed and re- 
quested Mr. Livingston to bid them 
in the French language, " Not to be 
alarmed," and to tell them " that the 
enemy should never reach the cityT 
This assurance seemed to give them 
a charmed life, banished their des- 
pondency, and stilled the tumult of 
their palpitating bosoms. 

True to his vow, the General on 
the eve of that very day, bade saluta- 
tion to the foe. On the 28th of De- 
cember also the embodied forces 
came in sanguinary contact. But 
on neither occasion was the result 
decisive. From the day of landing, 
however, till the end of the month, 
svmdry rencounter« and skirmishes 



207 

took place, wherein fortune alternated 
her favour with wonted versatility. 



The British was encamped two 
miles below the American army. 
Nothing interposed to obstruct the 
view of either, a level plain lying be- 
tween them both. 

A defective complement of heavy 
ordnance was the imputed cause of 
the failure to carry the works on the 
28th of December, and to remedy 
that want, occupied the attention of 
the English during the three follow- 
ing days. 

The morning of the 1st of January 
set in with a very thick fog which 
did not clear away until 9 o'clock. 
vSeveral batteries were then discern- 
ed, about six hundred yards distant, 
mounting eighteen and twenty-four 
pound carronades, which suddenly 
opened with a tremendous peal that 



208 

rent the air, while congreve rockets 
hovered in every quarter. 

At the xery first sound of cannon^ 
the General hastened to the hne^ 
prepared to make his arrangements 
as occasions might suggest. The 
roar of artillery was uninterrupted 
on both sides until noon, by which 
time two of the British batteries 
were nearly beaten down, and many 
of the guns rendered unavailable, 
dismounted and useless. The bat- 
tery which was raised nearest to the 
river continued in operation till 3 
o'clock, when the assailants, finding 
their endeavours to force a breach in 
the American entrenchments to be 
altogether impotent, dropped the at- 
tempt and retired. 

The British commander then or- 
dered a division of his troops to pass 
through the woods and make an ef- 
fort to turn the left of the American 
line, supposing it to reach to the bor- 



209 

ders only of the swamp. But in this 
he was mistaken. General Coffee's 
brigade, which occupied the left sta- 
tion, had been extended into the 
swamp as far as it was practicable 
to enter it. The unforeseen elonga- 
tion of the America! i line occasioned 
the British detachment to pause, and 
they finally gave up the enterprize. 
Had the extreme left of the line been 
turned, a powerful diversion to fa- 
vour the reserve columns, which 
were in readiness to be brought for- 
ward, was expected to ensue, but the 
formation of that plan by the enemy 
had not been concealed from the in- 
tuitive foresight of General Jackson, 
nor did he neglect precautionary 
st^'ps to meet the execution of such 
a project. 

The heavy shot of the British liav- 
ing penetrated the entrenchment in 
many parts, its strength was found 
less than had been at first supposed. 



210 

Additional bales of cotton were there- 
fore ordered to be brought and ap- 
plied to the embrasures. Among 
others whose property was made use 
of at this difficult and indiscrimin- 
ating crisis, was a French trader, the 
sensibilities of whom were deeply 
affected through apprehension of the 
^damage that might befal his cotton. 
His concern impelled him to go be- 
fore the General, and desire that his 
goods might be delivered back to 
him. Understanding that at this 
alarming juncture, when it behoved 
all to appear in arms, the trader 
was engaged in the performance of 
no military service whatever, and 
that he was a person of great pos- 
sessions in the city, the General or- 
dered a bystander to put a musket 
in the applicant's hand, and himself 
to join the line, declaring that none 
were better entitled than the owners 
of property to fight in defence of it. 



211 

Meanwhile the British withdrew 
to their encampment, in expectation 
of being reinforced ; and the Ken- 
tucky troops were looked for every 
hour at New Orleans ; so that pre- 
parations were busily made on either 
side, and prognosticated the near ap- 
proach of an awful time. 

The American army was posted 
behind an entrenchment, formed of 
earth, and extended in a straight 
Une from the river a considerable 
distance into the swamp. In the 
front of it was a deep ditch which 
had been used previously as a mill- 
race. It was at that time dry to- 
wards the Mississippi, the river hav- 
ing receded, but collections of water 
still remained in many parts of it. 
Guns of different calibre, from six to 
thirty-two pounders, were mounted 
along the line, at unequal distances, 
*o the centre of General Carroll's 
c^ 19 



212 

division. In advance of the entrench- 
ment and close to the river-side, a 
redoubt was erected with embra- 
sures, commandinfif the road along 
the levee and capable of raking the 
ditch in front. General Morgan 
had been ordered on the 24th of 
December, to cross the Mississippi 
and occupy the right or Western 
bank ; for the General stretched his 
defence to the right bank also of the 
river, apprehensive lest the city 
should be attempted through Barra- 
taria. His greatest fears, next to 
what visited his mind on account of 
his own position where he stationed 
the troops that most needed encour- 
agement, were excited for the posi- 
tion on the Chef Menteur road^ oc- 
cupied by Governor Claiborne, at 
the head of the Louisiana militia, 
and therefore he took the most in- 
terested care in defending it. Th^ 
isame plan was followed in dispo.^ j 



218 

the line on the right, as had been 
adopted in arranging the left, lower 
down than that on the left, and ex- 
tending to the swamp at a right an- 
gle with the river. 

About two miles in the rear of this 
line of defence, the General had laid 
out another, intended to constitute 
a rallying point, should he be con- 
strained to retire from the first. 
And he expected to reach this se- 
cond line of defence without materi- 
al loss by means of the cavalry giving 
a momentary check to the progress 
of the advancing enemy. Superior 
advantages attached to this position 
likewise. 

Both to present a commanding 
front to the British, and encourage 
his own troops, he placed in the rear 
line for a display all the unarmed 
men, who made no small number ; 
and strictly interdicting all communi- 
cation between the lines, unless 



214 

llirough confideotial officers, disguis- 
ed his weakness from the enem}', and 
even in his own Hnes an ignorance 
respecting it. 

On the 4th of January the troops 
from Kentucky arrived at head-quar- 
ters, under the command of General 
Thomas. They amounted to up- 
wards of twenty-two hundred men, 
but the wretched state of their ap- 
pointments diminished very much 
the real benefit of their acquisition. 
The forwardness with which the ci- 
tizens of Kentucky obeyed the first 
summons to arms, and entered into 
the North Western campaigns, un- 
happily exhausted in the course of 
their disasters the armory of the State. 
But they nevertheless proceeded on 
to New Orleans, expecting to be sup- 
plied upon arriving there. About 
five hundred of them had serviceable 
muskets, but the guns which the 
others had brought along with them 



215 

were unfit for any beneficial applica- 
tion. The Louisiana militia came 
no less destitute of arms ; so that 
although the mayor, at the instance 
of the General, had brought into re- 
quisition every instrument that could 
inflict a wound, wherever to be found 
throughout the city, the deficiency 
lay beyond the remedial power of 
present means to repair it. Every 
body knew that a boat was on the 
river, laden with arms intended for 
the use of the lower country, but no- 
body knew where it was then, nor 
ichen it would come. Full three 
hundred miles up the river was the 
boat sought, to hurry her on, still 
there was no account of the boat. 
General Jackson was deeply affected 
at seeing so many gallant spirits 
obliged to remain unemployed at so 
critical a time. All that he could do 

was to range them at his entrench- 
19* 



216 

ment in the rear, awd by their nu- 
mercial exhibition, swell the concep- 
tion of his strength. 

General Lambert had now brought 
a strong reinforcement to the British 
camp, and some effort of consequence 
was therefore expected to be made. 
It became more necessary than be- 
fore to hide the unarmed condition of 
the troops, and none but very particu- 
lar persons were allowed to quit the 
line, or to hold communication with 
it. The sentinels in front were in- 
creased to prevent the escape of de- 
serters, and the utmost vigilance and 
circumspection observed, the expe- 
diency of concealment being render- 
ed still greater as the danger more 
nearly approached. But notwith- 
standing all this precaution, a sol- 
dier contrived, on the evening of the 
6th to pass to the British camp, and 
by him the enemy were made ac- 
quainted as to the defenceless situa- 



217 

tion of the force which had recently 
joined the army, and learning, no 
donbt from the same informant, that 
the centre of General Carroll's divi- 
sion was composed altogether o£ mi- 
litia, they resolved upon that point 
to press their attack. 

Some prisoners, who had been 
taken on the lake, reported that a 
number of British soldiers were kept 
constantly at work on Villery's canal 
to deepen it sufficiently for the trans- 
portation of ordnance to the Missis- 
sippi. Along the canal, companies 
were marched in constant succession 
back and forwards, to conceal those 
who were busily working in the rear. 
Doubt, however, upon this subject 
was removed by the actual discovery 
of the fact. For Commodore Pat- 
terson having proceeded down the 
river on the opposite side, took a 
favourable position, whence he dis- 
tinctly saw the operation going on. 



218 

There could be no question but that 
it was intended to attack the line of 
defence under General Morgan ; and 
if success followed that essay, the 
troops on the left being totally ex- 
posed to the fire of the redoubt con- 
structed on the right, would be driv- 
en from the ground they occupied. 
An additional strength was therefore 
given to this line, that danger so 
momentous might be contravened. 
The second regiment of Louisiana 
militia, and four hundred of the 
Kentucky, were ordered across to 
sustain it. Much delay was occa- 
sioned by the difficulty of providing 
arms for them, so that of the four 
hundred Kentucky militia one hun- 
dred and eighty only were actually 
sent, and these did not arrive until 
the morning of the 8th. Upon ar- 
riving they were immediately march- 
ed on to support an advanced party 
Hnder Major Arnaud, that had pro- 



219 

ceeded to watch the enemy's mo- 
tions, and prevent their landing. No 
opposition, however, had been given 
at the proper time by Major Ar- 
naud's detachment, and the British 
quietly debarked. General Mor- 
gan's position, besides being strength- 
ened by several brass twelves, was 
fortified by a battery mounting twen- 
ty-four pounders, which was under 
the management of Commodore 
Patterson, and considerably aug- 
mented the^means of defence. The 
line itself was not very strong, but 
if the troops that composed it per- 
formed their duty vigorously, compe- 
tent enough to make an effectual 
resistance. Late in the night the 
Commodore ascertained that the 
boats had passed through the canal, 
and he forthwith communicated to the 
General, news of the event. It first 
struck the Commodore to drop the 
schooner Louisiana down the river 



220 

for the purpose of sinking thein ; 
but fearing lest she should be blown 
up by hot shot discharged from the 
batteries along the river, he did not 
execute the plan. Under the im- 
pression, therefore, that the firmness 
of the troops which amounted to fif- 
teen hundred, aided by the line of 
defence, would baffle the contem- 
plated aggression, the coming of the 
enemy was calmly awaited. 

The General himself, who took 
charge of the left bank, Jwas in rea- 
diness to repel an assault there when- 
ever it might be attempted. Lieu- 
tenant Ross, with a company of the 
7th regiment, was stationed to pro- 
tect the redoubt on the levee. That 
part of the entrenchment which lay 
nearest to the river was occupied by 
the regular troops. General Car- 
roll's division w as in the centre, sup- 
ported by the Kentucky militia un- 
der General John Adair ; while the 



221 

extreme left of the line was guarded 
by General Coffee's brigade, drawn 
out a considerable distance into the 
swamp. The moment of making 
the attack was matter of uncertainty ; 
but all appearances indicated that 
the time was approaching nigh. The 
great activity which pervaded the 
British camp, the fascines and scahng 
ladders which were seen in prepara- 
tion united to their efforts to propel 
the boats into the Mississippi, pre- 
dicted the speedy developement of a 
decisive enterprize. The General 
was incessant in his application, to- 
tally engrossed by the business be- 
fore him, he was steadily at his post, 
and spent little time in the refection 
of his body. He doubled the senti- 
nels and stretched forward their 
train as nigh to the British line as 
safety would admit. A considerable 
portion of the army was ranged in 
due order, with arms in their hands, 



222 

ready for action at the shortest no- 
tice. 

The troops of both nations had 
now occupied the same plain in sight 
of each other for eight days. 

At early dawn on the morning of 
the 8th of January, a sky-rocket was 
observed ascending from the left of 
the enemy, and immediately after a 
second was thrown from the right, 
by the river side. These signals in- 
timated that all was in readiness to 
move. Presently the whole sky was 
illuminated with a discharge of rock- 
ets. Bombs and balls were poured 
in thick succession from the batter- 
ies, which had been re-constructed 
the night before, and mounted with 
heavy pieces of ordnance. Mean- 
time the two divisions, commanded 
by Sir Edward Packenham in per- 
son, supported by the Generals 
Keane and Gibbs, pressed forward, 
the right against the centre of Gen- 



223 

eral Carroll's division, and the left 
against our redoubt on the levee. 
From the haziness of the atmosphere 
they advanced un perceived within a 
short distance of the entrenchment. 
They approached with a firm, quick 
and steady pace, in column, having a 
front sixty or seventy deep. As soon 
as they appeared, the American army 
gave three cheers; and the whole line 
blazed in a moment, llie front of the 
enemy was swept by the unerring aim 
of the artillery and the destructive 
fire of the muskets, whicli played 
upon them without the least inter- 
mission, for as one party discharged 
their pieces, another came in their 
place; there was no cessation, and the 
whole was one continued volley. 
Battery No. 7, on the left was ef- 
fectively served by Lieutenant Spotts, 
who kept up a constant fire that pro- 
duced great execution. And the 
20 



224 

batteries, Nos. 6 and 8, were also 
worked in steady and fatal operation. 
But notwithstanding the deadly rage 
of our fire, some of those valiant men 
pressed on, and succeeded in gaining 
the ditch in front of the works, where 
they remained during the action, and 
were afterwards taken prisoners. 
At length the British troops began to 
hesitate, and waver in their determin- 
ation. Whereupon Sir Edward 
Packenham hastened to the front, 
and endeavoured to rouse their de- 
clining courage to renewed activity. 
The brave commander was suffered 
to hold his perilous post but a very 
short time. Near the American 
line he received a mortal wound, and 
sunk in death on the arm of his aid 
de camp. 

Upon the fall of Sir Edward Pack- 
enham, the Generals Keane and 
Gibbs successively took the com- 
mand; but they were both severely 



225 

wounded very soon after, and borne 
from the field. Meanwhile General 
Lambert, who was coming on with 
the reserve, met the troops retreating 
precipitately, and in great disorder. 
All his endeavours to stop them were 
attended with no effect. They con- 
tinued their flight to a distance of 
four hundred yards, where a trench 
affording a temporary protection, 
the General contrived to rally them. 
The ground that lay before them was 
strewed with the bodies of the dead, 
or men writhing in the agonies of 
death, yet encouraged and impel- 
led by the exhortations and authority 
of their officers, they advanced to the 
charge a second time. Attempting 
to deploy, as soon as they had ap- 
proached near enough for that pur- 
pose, a fire, no less destructive than 
what they experienced upon their 
first assault, was opened upon them 
and arrested their progress. Our 



226 

batteries had been continued in ac- 
tive employment without the sUghtest 
intermission; and the grape and can- 
nister supported by the discharges 
of the musketry, prostrated the front 
of the columns as fast as they could 
be formed. Appalled by the fright- 
ful scene around them, and sensible 
that they had gained no advantage 
by the dangers aheady encountered^ 
they vshrunk back, confounded and 
dismayed. Thus did the Kentucky 
and Tenessee militia repel the ad- 
vancing divisions of the enemy, and 
force them to quit the field amidst 
prodigious carnage. 

The light companies of fusileers, 
the 43d and 98d regiments, and a 
hundred men from the West India 
regiment, were ordered to proceed 
under Colonel Rennie, taking the 
shelter of some chimneys that stood 
in the field, and then clearing them, 
to oblique to the river, and if practi- 



227 

cable carry the redoubt on the right. 
Colonel Rennie exhibited the utmost 
skill and manliness in the perform- 
ance of his task. Although he met 
with a smart reception from Com- 
modore Patterson's battery on the 
left bank, and the cannon with which 
the redoubt was mounted, he reach*- 
ed the works notwithstanding, and 
having crossed the ditch, he boldly 
sprung upon the wall, sword in hand, 
bidding his troops to follow him: but 
scarcely were the words articulated 
when he was covered and taken 
down by the rifles. His party how- 
ever urging on, mounted the wall and 
entered at the embrasures in such 
force, that our troops, unable to 
withstand them retreated behind the 
redoubt. The instant General Jack- 
son learned that the redoubt had 
been carried, he hastened a rein- 
forcement to the right, to aid in its 
21* 



228 

recovery; but before they arrived, the 
British seeing their right division 
routed, and driven with precipitation 
from the field, considered their ac- 
quisition to be now untenable, and 
of no use, and therefore reHiiquished 
th(* redoubt to eschew the fruitless 
disasters that might follow an idle at- 
tempt to defend it. In this retreat 
they suffered very severely from 
Commodore Patterson's guns on 
the right bank, which enfiladed them 
also as they were advancing. Trains 
indeed of lifele?is bodies marked 
their course to and from the redoubt. 
Fiercely galled as they were, they 
turned to the ditch whither the right 
division had already withdrawn, and 
remained there until night covered 
their return to camp. 

But while the unsuccessful attempt 
was made to carry our line of de- 
fence on the left, an assault to second 
and support it was directed against 



229 

the right bank by a detachment of 
eight hundred men, under the com- 
mand of Colonel Thornton. The 
difficulty of passing the boats from 
the canal to the river, and after that 
was surmounted, the strong current 
of the Mississippi retarded the troops 
for some hours beyond the time at 
which they were expected to land. 
The flashes however of the guns 
having intimated the commencement 
of action on the left, the Colonel set 
forward with all expedition towards 
the entrenched position of General 
Morgan. Two hundred of the Lou- 
isiana militia, the detachment (al- 
ready noticed) under Major Arnaud, 
had been ordered by General 
Jackson, for the General as we 
have seen, had anticipated such a 
project, to repair to the Mississipj?i, 
and watchfully pas^ru^> down the 
water side, observe tla? motions of 
the British, and hinder their debark- 



230 

ation if they should offer to make 
one. These two hundred Louisia- 
nians were indulged by the major, 
when they had marched along the 
river about a mile, with permission 
to halt, lie down and take repose; 
and to provide against incidental 
surprise, he appointed a single per- 
son only to keep watch, deeming 
perhaps the General over-nervous in 
his apprehensions. At day-break 
the wakeful sentinel roused his slum- 
bering companions, and in a tone of 
much amazement, told them that he 
distinctly heard a great bustle going 
forward a little below. Restored to 
their senses, they unanimously agreed 
that the man indeed had spoken no- 
thing but the truth, and immediately 
moved off the same way they had 
come, without once attempting the 
business of their mission. Meantime, 
about 5 o'clock in the morning, a 
like number pf Kentucky militia had 



231 

arrived at General Morgan's line, and 
been despatched (as was said before) 
to second the Louisiana detachment. 
Proceeding three quarters of a mile, 
they had the mortification to meet 
the Louisianians coming hastily up 
the road with news that the British 
troops had made a landing, and were 
then ascending the levee at a rapid 
pace. Major Davis, who command- 
ed the Kentuckians, affirmed the 
purport of the orders given him, and 
declared his intention with the pre- 
sent united force, to thwart the pro- 
gress of the assailants. Some plank 
and scantling that happened to lie 
on the border of a saw-mill race, 
promised a shelter, and behind it he 
disposed the Kentucky militia on the 
road adjoining the river. The mili- 
tia of Louisiana occupied the right. 
Here a check was given to the ad- 
vance of the British, and they reced- 
ed a little; and again pressing for- 



232 

ward to the charge, met again with a 
spirited opposition. But General 
Morgan's aid-de-camp, who was pre- 
sent, becoming alarmed for the safe- 
ty of the troops, imprudently ordered 
a retreat ; which bringing on per- 
plexity and disorder, the whole body 
fled away to the entrenchment of 
General Morgan, which they gained 
without suffering loss indeed, but 
exceedingly spent by the precipitate- 
ness of their flight. Upon reaching 
the hne they were instantly formed, 
and stretched out to the swamp, for 
the purpose of maintaining the right 
of theentrenceraent. Colonel Thorn- 
ton halted at an orange grove to take 
a survey of the line, and discovered 
it "to consist of a formidable redoubt 
on the river," and that its penetrable 
and weakest point was that adjoining 
the swamp. The entrenchment was 
defended by about fifteen hundred 
men, and upon it he made a most 



23S 

vigorous charge, deploying as soon 
as he had attempted in two divisions 
the extreiue ri.^ht and centre of the 
line. His right division was annoyed 
very sha*^ply by the field pieces 
mounted along our works, and was 
compelled to oblique, whereupon 
uniting with the left division, a joint 
attack was made upon the extreme 
right of the line, the position occu- 
pied by the Kentucky militia. Co- 
lonel lliornton had discovered this 
point to be the most assailable; it was 
usisupported by cannon, it was protect- 
ed by a very slight ditch, and the hun- 
dred and eighty Kentucky militia men, 
whose station it was, were extended 
to the length of three hundred yards. 
It is therefore no subject for surprise 
that seeing their open exposure to 
the press of superior numbers, they 
should regard their means of defend- 
ing it, inadequate to maintain their 
ground. Thiey did give way, gradu- 



234 

ally at first, and a total discomfiture 
presently ensued. The Louisiana 
militia after discharging a few volleys 
were likewise put to the rout. By 
dint of great exertion their officers 
arrested their flight; hut a discharge 
of congreve rockets, having burst 
among them, and set fire to the sugar 
canes and other combustible ptiate- 
rials in the place, filled them with 
terror and dismay. A precipitate 
retreat was the consequence. Nor 
could they be stopped, until, at the 
distance of two miles, a saw-mill race, 
offered them protection, where they 
were rallied and reduced to order. 

Had the Kentucky and Louisiana 
militia been able to maintain their 
station for a short time longer, great 
assistance would have been rendered 
them by the co-operation of Commo- 
dore Patterson, who taking notice 
that the right of General Morgan's 
Hue was thus sorely pressed, forbore 



235 

to harass the retreating* columns on 
the opposite bank, and pointed his 
guns so as to enfilade the enemy at 
the parts nearest the swamp. But no 
sooner was he enabled to adminis- 
ter active aid, than he found the 
troops of the right extremity in a 
state of utter confusion. Marred in 
his expectations, and besides, too 
much exposed now to keep his situa- 
tion, he spiked the guns, and de- 
stroying the ammunition, withdrew 
from the place. 

In this manner was the lustre of 
our brilliant achievement on one 
side of the river, dimmed by the re- 
verse that befel our arms on the 
other. A position most advantageous 
was gained by the enemy which laid 
our whole line on the left bank open 
to their fire; and ii deed if Commo- 
dore Patterson had neglecteJ to 
spike his cannon, and destroy the 
21 



236 

ammunition, Colonel Thornton would 
have possessed the means of enfilad- 
ing our line of defence completely, 
and rendering ineffectual our most 
skilful and strenuous efforts to main- 
tain it. General Jackson, lest the 
guns should be unspiked, hastened 
to send detachments across, and en- 
joined them to retake the post at 
every hazard. He forwarded also 
an address to the troops on the right 
bank, to awaken their gallantry and 
incite them to such noble feats of 
bravery as might expunge the blot 
which had recently dashed tlseir 
character. Doubtless the faulty ar- 
rangement of the militia, and their 
perilous and helpless situation, were 
unknown to the general at the time of 
inditing it: Misinformation furnish- 
ed from a quarter whence the truth 
should have been revealed, for there it 
was certainly known, produced a re- 
monstrance, thus strongly conveyed : 



287 

"While, by the blessing of heaven, one of the 
most brilliant victories was obtained bj the troops 
under my immediate command, no words can ex- 
press the mortification I felt^ at witnessing the 
scene exhibited on the opposite bank. I will 
spare your feelings and my own, nor enter into 
detail on the subject. To all who reflect, it must 
be a source of eternal regret, that a few moments' 
exertion of that courage you certainly possess, 
was alone wanting to have rendered your success 
more complete than that of your fellow-citizens 
in this camp. To what cause was the abandon- 
ment of your lines owing.'' To fear? No! You are 
the countrymen, the friends, the brothers of those 
who have secured to themselves, by their cou- 
rage, the gratitude of their country; who have 
been prodigal of their blood in its defence, and who 
are strangers to any other fear than that of disgrace, 
to disaffection to our glorious cause .^ No, my 
countrymen, your General does justice to the pure 
sentiments by which you are inspired. How 
then could brave men, firm in the cause in which 
they were enrolled, neglect their first duty, and 
abandon the post committed to their care.'' The 
want of discipline, the w^ant of order, a total dis- 
regard to obedience, and a spirit of insubordina- 
tion, not less destructive than cowardice itself, 
are the causes which led to this disaster, and 
they must be eradicated, or I must cease to com- 
mand. I desire to be distinctly understood, that 



238 

every breach of orders, all want of discipline^, 
every inattention of duty, will be seriously and 
proinptly punished; that the attentive officers, 
and ^ood soldiers, may not be mentioned in the 
disgrace and danger which the negligence of 3u 
few may produce. Soldiers f You wantonly the 
will, in order to emulate the glory of your fellow- 
citizens on this bank of the river — you have the 
same motives for action; the same interest, the 
same country to protect; and you have an addi- 
tional interest, from past events, to wipe off re- 
proach, and show that you will not be inferior^ 
in the day of trial, to any of your countrymen. 

But remember! Without obedience, without 
order, without discipline, all your efforts are vain. 
The brave man, inattentive to his duty, is worth 
little more to his country than the coward who 
deserts her in the hour of danger. Private opin- 
ions, as to the competency of officers, must not 
be indulged, and still less expressed; it is impos- 
sible that the measures of those who command 
should sati&fy all who are bound to obey; and 
one of the most dangerous faults in a soldier, is a 
disposition to criticise and blame the orders and 
characters of his superiors. Soldiers ! I know^ 
that many of you have done your duty; and I 
trust, in future, I shall have no reason to make 
any exception. Officers! 1 have the fullest con- 
fidence that you will enforce obedience to your 
con^mands; but, above all, that by subordinatioa 



239 

iu your different grades, you will set an example 
to your men; and that, hereafter, the army of the 
right will yield to none in the essential qualities 
which characterize good soldiers; that they will 
earn their share of those honours and rewards 
which their country will prepare for its deliver- 
ers." 

Very soon after the reinforcement was ordered 
across to aid in the recovery of General Mor- 
gan's position, a communication was delivered 
from General Lambert, on whom had now de- 
volved the chief command of the British forces, 
wherein he courteously acknowledged to have 
witnessed himself, the tenderness shown his 
wounded men by the American troops, and ad- 
dressing the liberal humanity of General Jack- 
son, requested leave for an unarmed party to 
inter the dead that lay before his line, and re- 
move those dangerously wounded for the benefit 
of surgical attendance. General Jackson grant- 
ed the prayer of the request absolutely with 
respect to such as were farther than three hun- 
dred yards distant from the line; but considering 
it unsafe to allow the enemy an access near 
enough for remarking the particular condition of 
his entrenchment, he only so far complied with 
respect to those within that distance, as to pro- 
mise the comforts and attentions to the wounded 
which their pitiable condition required^ and that 
21* 



240 

the dead sliould be consigned to their countrymen 
for burial, from Americaii hands. At noon a 
second message was received from General Lam- 
bert, proposing a cessation of hostilities for 
twenty-four hours, that an interval .of uninter- 
rupted security might be obtained for dressing 
the wounds of his soldiers. General Jackson 
immediately framed an armistice, and sending it 
forward to General Lambert, desired that if it 
received his approbation at all, it should be 
ratified at once, and interchanged without the 
least delay. A stipulation was inserted in the 
armistice that hostilities should be discontinued 
on the left bank during the time specified, but 
that on the right bank they should wof, and that 
during the interim succour should not be sent 
across by either party, under any pretext what- 
ever. The armistice indeed was finally conclud- 
ed, but notification of its acceptance was defer- 
red till the next morning, although General 
Jackson had so expressly mentioned his desire 
to have it expedited. General Lambert ''s apolo- 
gy for the procrastination was quite common- 
place: but his tardiness favoured General Jack- 
son's purpose too well for stickling at punctilios 
about its justification. 

Great men sometimes descend to little things; 
and stratagem during seasons of war seems to be 
disrobed of it.? habitual meanness. There was 
perhaps in the management of this affair a slant 



241 

towards deception, on the part of both command- 
ers. General Jackson expected that the rein- 
forcement he had despatched to assist General 
Morgan would have crossed the river before the 
armistice could reach General Lambert, which 
indeed they had not at that time effected; or else, 
that General Lambert apprehensive for the safe- 
ty of Colonel Thornton's detachment would 
postpone an answer unlU these troops could be 
recrossed; and on the other hand, General Lam- 
bert designedly retarded his answer, with the 
view that Colonel Thornton might be rescued 
from his critical situation, as he had reason to 
suppose it to be. And in the mean time Colonel 
" Thornton's troops were brought over, and General 
Morgan took quiet possession of his original 
stand. The cards were artfully played on both 
sides, but the benefit of the deal was entirely the 
General's own. 

On the morning of the 9th the armistice was 
accordingly concluded, and its operation was to 
last till 2 o'clock in the afternoon. In pursuance 
of its provisions, hostilities were forborne; and 
the British came and took themselves the dead 
and wounded at the distance of three hundred 
yards from the American entrenchment, our troops 
delivering all that were inside of that space, a 
precaution adopted, for the reason already as- 
signed—that the actual state of our means of de- 
fence might not be subject to the enemy's inspec- 



242 

tion. No scruple was made to the surrender of 
the wounded men that were found within those 
limits, because they were physically unable, and 
too much discomposed in mind by their pains, to 
make any nice observations; and wherever our 
own security is not endangered, the sympathies 
of our common nature prompt us to acts of ten- 
derness and mercy. 

A discrepancy in the computation returned of 
the British loss in this disastrous failure has left 
the exact amount of it controvertible to this day; 
but certain it is that they suffered most severely. 
General Lambert in his report to the British Se- 
cretary at War, estimates the killed, wounded, 
and prisoners at two thousand and seventy; while 
Colonel Hayne, the Inspector General, lengthens 
the list by five hundred and thirty more. If one 
may be guided by the information of prisoners, 
and by considerations that give a strong colouring 
to conjecture, the number might berated still 
higher. But this loss, tremendous enough ab- 
stractedly by itself, strikes the mind with addi- 
tional amazement when viewed in juxta-position 
with that of our own troops, who, guarded by the 
wise arrangements of our consummate General, 
suffered in killed and wounded, a bare diminution 
of thirteen men. 

The threatening attitude of the British army 
was now changed into a posture of defence; and 
they were now observed to be raising temporary 



243 

structures for their protection. Our General^ 
however, still continued to devise plans of pre- 
caution, (ever studious as he was of safety,) and 
to add to the strength of his fortifications. De- 
fensive measures solicited his attention the more 
forcibly through the information he received, 
that a powerful squadron had passed the Balize, 
and having taken prisoners a detachment on that 
station, was directing its course up the Missis* 
sippi. This armament, he readily conceived, 
had been designed to help the unfortunate assault 
of the 8th, and now that it was coming, he knew 
not but General Lambert might be inspirited to 
venture the issue of a second trial. For, notwith- 
standing the sanguinary defeat he. had met with on 
the left bank, General Lambert lied still at his 
command a formidable force that might very well 
justify him in calculating yet upon a contingent 
success. Fourteen thousand men had been land- 
ed in Louisiana. Of these, sickness had disquali- 
fied many for a discharge of active duty, and 
some were maimed or cut off in previous actions. 
However, the most feasible accounts give him 
nine thousand at commencing the assault upon 
the left bank, and General Jackson three thousand 
seven hundred effective troops only, wherewithal 
to repel it. So that although General Lambert's 
prospects were greatly impaired, the enterprize 
had not become utterly hopeless, nor liad New 
Orleans attained a sure exemption from danger. 



244 

A loud cannonading heard from that quarter on 
the 1 1 th, announced that the reported squadron 
was directing its fire on Fort St. Philip to open 
its passage to the city. Already had the General 
with his accustomed providence secured the 
strength of the fort, and given scope for the exer- 
tion of its local capacity to intercept any approach 
to New Orleans, by the inlet of vi^hich it forms 
the barrier. Early on the morning of the 9th, 
Major Overton, who commanded Fort St. Philip, 
was apprized by signals from the videttes of 
Fort Bourbon, that the squadron, consisting of 
two bomb vessels, a brig, a sloop, and a schooner, 
were proceeding up the river; and preparations 
were thereupon instantly made to prevent their 
transnavigation. About 10 o'clock of the same 
day, the assault was commenced and continued 
for nine days withjitlle intermission; but the 
fortress being found impregnable in hands of 
so skilful and courageous, and as wiltiout its 
reduction a passage to the city could not be made, 
further prolongation of the bombardment was 
deemed useless, and therefore the squadron re- 
tired. 

General Lambert's situation was now extreme- 
ly irksome. Whatever expectations he might 
have cherished of being in a condition to renew 
immediate hostilities against New Orleans, were 
supplanted by the disappointment which had just 
overtaken his naval force. Not a day passed 



245 

that did not bring him annoyance. Ever since 
the 8th, bombs were thrown into his camp from 
time to time, and our batteries kepi in continual 
play, suffered no party of his troops to go abroad 
into the open air, without inflicting upon them 
morq or less injury. All things admonished him 
to withdraw his army, and relinquish for the pre- 
sent, operations against New Orleans. 

Impediments to his march being removed, 
bridges thrown across the pools and rivulets to 
expedite it, and redoubts constructed to guard 
against molestation in its progress, General Lam- 
bert in the silence of the night left his encamp- 
ment; and completing in safety his march to the 
lake, had the troops conveyed in boats to the ves- 
sels in the gulf Eighty of the soldiers were too 
precariously wounded to undergo disturbance, 
and these of necessity remained in the camp. 

Bustle and noise were so heedfully prevented, 
that the very outposts of the American army took 
no notice of the departure. When the morning's 
sun diffused its light, and revealed the desertion 
of the hostile camp; our general commanded re- 
coiinoitering parlies to go forth and explore the 
meaning of this strange occurrence. Just as the 
detachments were setting out, Surgeon Wadsdale 
of the staff, arrived at the line with a communica- 
tion from General Lambert, informing General 
Jackson that "for the present, all further opera- 
tions against New Orleans" should be withheld, 



246 

and commending to General Jackson's hospitality 
and wonted kindness, the eighty invalids whom 
he was constrained to leave behind him. The 
detachments were then ordered to proceed, and 
harass the enemy's rear if they were seriously 
making a retreat. They found the enemy indeed 
retreating, but the route was strongly protected, 
and no efforts to interrupt it could prove suc- 
cessful. A pursuit of the British, as they were 
on the way to their ships, by the main body of 
the American troops, might have diminished their 
strength, but it must also have enfeebled our own; 
and General Jackson was not one of those lottery 
captains who incur certain loss for the chance of 
incidental advantage. Some advantages at the 
best but partial, may in the end produce no bene- 
fit, and this was one of them. 

On the 20th, the General returned with his 
troops to New Orleans. He was received by 
the inhabitants with joyous welcome. Amongst 
any people the arrival of a great public bene- 
factor never fails to call forth demonstrations 
of earty gratulation; let the fancy then strain 
her powers to conceive the greetings paid our 
hero as he entered in that special character, a 
city inhabited by the Sons and Daughters of the 
graces, whose very dislike never comes abroad 
in the garb of a slattern, whose gayety imiiarts a 
gleam of cheerfulness to illumine the darkness of 



247 

sorrow, and cajoles miscarriage of one half its 
chagrin. 

At the instance of the General, the 23d was 
appointed, and kept accordingly, a day of solemn 
thanksgiving to Heaven for the signal manifesta- 
tion of Divine Providence, in averting threatened 
Calamities from the people, interposing an all 
powerful arm to succour and defend the city, and 
driving far away to the deep, the men of u ar who 
had come against it. A long procession advanced 
to the temple of God to send forth effusions of 
their praise and grateful benediction. In the 
midst appeared our General, the gredLt Astyanax. 
At the entrance to the cathedral he was met by 
the Reverend Mr. Duborg, Administrator Apos- 
tolic of the Louisiana Diocess, who addres&ed 
him in these impressive strains: 

"General, — While tlie state of Louisiana, in 
the joyful transports of her gratitude, hails you as 
her deliverer, and the asserter of her menaced 
liberties — while grateful America, so lately wrap- 
ped up in anxious suspense, on the fate of this 
important city, is re-echoing from shore to shore 
your splendid achievements, and preparing to 
inscribe your name on her immortal rolls, among 
those of her Washingtons — while history, poetry, 
and the monumental arts, will vie in consigning 
to the admiration of the latest posterity, a triumph 
perhaps unparalleled in their records — while thus 
22 



248 

raised, by universal acclamation, to the very pin- 
nacle of fame, how easy had it been for you. 
General, to forget the Prime Mover of your 
wonderful successes, and to assume to yourself a 
praise, which must essentially return to that ex- 
alted source whence every merit is derived. 
But, better acquainted with the nature of true 
glory, and justly placing the summit of your am- 
bition, in approving yourself the worthy instru- 
ment of Heaven's merciful designs, the first 
impulse of your religious heart was to acknow- 
ledge the signal intevposition of Providence — your 
first step, a solemn display of your Immble sense 
of His favours. 

Still agitated at the remembrance of those 
dreadful agonies, from which we have been so 
miraculously rescued, it is our pride to acknow- 
ledge, that the Almighty has truly had the prin- 
cipal hand in our deliverance, and to follow you, 
General, in attributhig to his infinite goodness, the 
homage of our unfeigned gratitude. Let the in- 
fatuated votary of a blind chance deride our 
credulous simplicity; let the cold-hearted Atheist 
look for the explanation of important events to 
the mere concatenation of human causes: to us, 
the whole universe is loud in proclaiming a 
Supreme Ruler, who, as he holds the hearts of 
men in his hands, holds also the thread of all con- 
tinsfent occurrences. "Whatever be his interme- 
diate agents," says an illustrious prelate, "still 



249 

6n the secret orders of His all-ruling providenee, 
depend the rise and prosperity, as well as the 
decline and^downl'al of empires. From His lofty 
throne he moves every scene below, now curb- 
ing', now letting loose, the passions of men; now 
infusing His own wisdom into the leaders of na- 
tions; now confounding their boasted prudence, 
and spreading upon their councils a spirit of 
intoxication; and thus executing His uncontrolla- 
ble judgments on the sons of men, according to 
the dictates of His own unerring justice." 

To Hhn^ therefore, our most fervent thanks 
are due, for our late unexpected rescue, it is 
Him we intend to praise, when considering you, 
General, as the man of his right hand^ whom he 
has taken pains to fit out for the important com- 
mission of our defence. We extol that fecundity 
of genius, by which, under the most discouraging 
distress, you created unforeseen resources, rais- 
ed, as it were from the ground, hosts of intrepid 
warriors, and provided every vulnerable point 
with ample means of defence. To Him we trace 
that instinctive superiority of your mind, which 
at once rallied around you universal confidence; 
impressed one irresistible movement on all the 
jarring elements of which this political machine 
is composed; aroused their slumbering spirits, 
and diffused through every rank, the noble ardour 
which glowed in your own bosom. To Him, 
in fine, we address our acknowledgments fof 



250 

that consummate prudence which defeated all the 
combinations of a sagacious enemy, entangled 
him in the very snares which he had spread for 
us, and succeeded in effecting his utter destruc- 
tion, without exposing the lives of our citizens. 
Immortal thanks be to His Supreme Majesty, for 
sending us such an instrument of His bountiful 
designs! A gift of that value is the best token 
of the continuance of His protection — the most 
solid encouragement to sue for new favours. The 
lirst which it emboldens us humbly to supplicate, 
as nearest our throbbing hearts, is, that you may- 
long enjoy the honour of your grateful country; 
of which you will permit us to present you a 
pledge, in this wreath of laurel, the prize of 
victory, the symbol of immortality. The next 
is a speedy and honourable termination of the 
bloody contest in which we are engaged. No 
one has so efficaciously laboured as you. General, 
for the acceleration of that blissful period; may 
we soon reap that sweetest fruit of your splendid 
and uninterrupted victories." 

The General thus replied: — 
^'Reverend Sir, — I receive, with gratitude 
and pleasure, the symbolical crown which piety 
has prepared. I receive it in the name of the 
brave men who have so effectually seconded my 
exertions; they well deserve the laurels whi^h 
•heir country will bestow. 



251 

For myself, to liave been instrumental in the de- 
liverance of such a country, is the greatest bless- 
ing that Heaven could confer. That it has been 
effected with so little loss — that so few tears 
should cloud the smiles of our triumph, and not a 
cypress leaf be interwoven in the wreath whicii 
you present, is a source of the most exquisite 
pleasure. 

I thank you, reverend sir, most sincerely, for 
the prayers which you offer up for my happiness. 
May those your patriotism dictates, for our be- 
loved country, be first heard: and may mine, for 
your individual prosperity, as well as that of the 
congregation committed to your care, be favoura- 
bly received — the prosperity, wealth, and happi- 
ness of this city, will then be commensurate with, 
the courage and other qualities of its inhabitants." 

Since the ulterior designs of the British were 
now entirely unknown, and their plans perhaps 
fortuitous with themselves, and still unsettled, it 
appeared to our General most advisable to quar- 
ter his troops in the city and its immediate neigh- 
borhood, as a centre whence to draw them forth 
with equal convenience to any point whatever, 
by which access to it might be again attempted. 
The 7th regiment of Infantry remained to occupy 
our late position. A deiachment of Kentucky 
and Louisiana militia was placed in advance to 
guard Viilery's Canal where first the British 
22* 



252 

Hiade their landing unresisted; and to give addi- 
tional power to this particular spot, a fortifica- 
tion was now directed to be raised at the junction 
of Bayon Bienvenu and Manzant, but the order, 
notwithstanding two strenuous efforts to execute 
it, were made on different days, was left unfulfil- 
led. The work was prevented by a party of 
British who were securely entrenched, and pro- 
tected from assault, — their position being inac- 
cessible to a number competent for its reduction 

From maintaining a garrison, and taking pains 
to fortify a position at Villery's Canal, it was 
evident that although the British refrained from 
present operations against New Orleans, they 
had not surrendered their ultimate views upon it; 
discreetly holding the fruition in obeyance as it 
were, they still turned a wistful look towards the 
place, but withheld their hands, and prudently 
awaited a term less unpropitious for livery and 
seisin, — ignorant that among the recorded Jack- 
sjoniana was, lis n'ai jamais seront en ville.* 

The general therefore constructed fortifica- 
tions at different points of the swamp, and to- 
wards Terre au Bseuf, and precluded the enemy 
from all opportunities of gaining the bank of the 
Mississippi in this quarter. He took a position 
on LaFourche, and made that particularly strong. 
After thus providing for the security of the city 



■They shall never reaoh the city. 



253 

in the parts below it, he directed General Carroll 
and General Coffee to occupy their former 
encampment four miles above it, where they had 
been stationed prior to the debarkation. He 
placed the residue of his troops according as 
their presence seemed to be required, and whence 
they might be concentrated and brought into 
action with readiness and facility. 

In the ordinary concerns of private life, we 
sometimes find persons, who, engaged in any 
particular business are, at least apparently are, 
so entirely engrossed by the prosecution of it, 
that they become highly provoked by attempting 
to invite their notice to other matters, the object 
before them, like Aaron's rod, absorbing every 
consideration besides. But our General's mind, 
though intensely occupied with the salvation of 
a great city, was free to entertain regard 
of inferior subjects. During the siege of New 
Orleans, a military novice, who had never been 
so far from his mother before, was sorely galled 
by the men who diverted themselves to his great 
vexation, and used to call him from the clumsi- 
ness, perhaps, of his gait, Ensign Pewter Foot. 
One day his torment forced him to come before 
the General, and laying open his intolerable 
grievance, earnestly besought permission to go 
home to his people. The General assuming an 
air of seriousness deplored the prevalence of 
flagitious scurrility throughout the camp. He 



254 

declared that he was credibly informed he was 
himself known as well by Old Hickory as by his 
proper title. We must, said he, as well as we 
can, brook their insulting mockery; but once we 
are rid of these troublesome British, we shall 
vindicate the honours of our name, bring our men 
of mirth to task, and make them smart for their 
pleasantry. 

That the splendour of England's martial renown 
shone with diminished lustre before the bright 
arms of freemen, brandished under banners that 
received the benedictions of liberty, affords a 
legitimate theme for a song of triumph, and the 
subject may in some measure justify the extrava- 
gance of the paean. But it is an inglorious emi- 
nence that owes its elevation to the lowliness of 
another's depression. That the British should 
carry home afoul blot on their national 'scutcheon, 
revolting to humanity and abhorrent of civiliza- 
tion, is matter of regret; and scandalous it is in 
the extreme, if the aspersion has been undeserv- 
edly thrown upon them. A report has obtained, 
nay a statement has been made with historiogra- 
phical solemnity, that Sir Edward Packen- 
ham, to kindle the ardour of his troops with an 
extraordinary suscitation, promulged by way of 
motto through his army, "Beauty and Booty," — 
not only assuring his soldiers that he would 
consign the property of private citizens to their 
pillage, but, horrid to relate, administer to their 



25S 

brutal appetites, and submit to violation the 
persons of the defenceless women. The mind 
shudders at the thought, and tries in vain to 
reconcile a sentiment of such damnable turpitude 
with our notion of the gallant Sir Edward Pack- 
enham, the soldier, the gentleman, the scholar. 
Every true lover o{ his species, every citizen of 
the universe, must rejoice to learn that the 
evidence adduced to sustain the imputation, is 
irrelevant, imbecile, and defective. Two books, 
it seems, were found in the pockets of two or- 
derly Serjeants, inscribed with those words. 
Wherefore were those words written there .^ 
Why else than because the books were used for 
private memorandums, and so among other arti- 
cles inserted, two miscreant sons of Belzebub set 
down therein with clandestine wickedness, the 
loathsome reveries of their gross imagination. 
Doubtless had the city fallen, rapine and devasta- 
tion would have been dealt liberally enough, on 
the intrusion of a demoralized soldiery, w^ith fury 
in their breasts and arms in their hands, and well 
may the gentle bosoms of the fair beat in respon- 
sive gratitude at the name of Jackson. 



256 

CHAPTER V. 

The general is involved in troubles of Law. — His 
masterly exculpation of himself. 

Before any official news of peace between the 
two belligerent nations reached the General, 
various rumours floated, respecting that event 
as being certain, which were calculated to raise 
and maintain a spirit of disaffection. The just 
concern for his country, and the dread of suffer- 
ing the enemy to wrest so tamely from his bauds 
the advantages and glories of the victory he had 
gained over them, called forth his energies to 
repress the dangerous circulation of such vague 
intelligence. 

Amongst those who spread oral reports to this 
effect were persons whose influence gave an 
alarming "weight of authority to their information. 
But it unfortunately happened that a gentleman of 
high respectability and talents, a Mr. Louaillier, 
one of the state legislators, had procured the 
insertion of an arr icle in the Louisiana Courier, 
embracing in its statements and dissertations 
matter highly mutinous. In virtue of the martial 
law which still existed in New Orleans, Mr. 
Louaillier was taken into custody, and brought to 
trial. He ebtained his acquittal on the ground 
that no traitorous n:alignity could be attached 
to tlie paper, inasmuch as the intention of writing 
and publishing it, was not established to have 



257 

been aimed at the promotion of any hostile at- 
tempts against the United States. 

Application however having been previously 
made to one of the Judges for a writ of hahtas 
corpus^ it was issued; cojitrary to the spirit of the 
martial law which the General had considered ne- 
cessary to proclaim for meeting the exigency of 
the crisis; and which the speculative probability 
of peace so far from warranting him to abrogate at 
this moment, made it the more advisable to con* 
tinue in force — the desire of being relieved from 
military duties being rather stimulated than quash- 
ed by the anticipation of peace; whilst the clandes- 
tine manner of the invaders' debarkation, furnish- 
ed strong admonition to guard against the pseudo- 
adherents of their country's cause. Was the 
General then to suffer this writ at this time to take 
its ordinary effect? — The same decisive prompti- 
tude which so frequently upheld the vital inte- 
rests of his government was shown on the 
present occasion. He ordered the Judge to de- 
part beyond the limits of his encampment, to 
prevent the repetition of the improper conduct 
laid to his charge, and that he shoud remaia 
without the line of the sentinels until the ratifica- 
tion of peace was regularly announced, or until 
the British w^ithdrew from the southern coast. 
This command was given on the 1 Ith of January, 
and on the 13th an express from the war depart- 
ment reached head quarters with information that 



258 

peace was concluded. In a few days afterwards 
General Lambert received from his government a 
similar communication: so that on the 1 9th of the 
month all offensive motions ceased on the part of 
either army. 

War's alarms having now subsided, and the 
cultivation of the peaceful arts being restored to 
its supremacy; the Judge, placed again upon the 
seat of his authority, resolved to vindicate the 
honours of his insulted station. Accordingly, on 
the 21st, a rule of court was made. ''That 
General Andrew Jackson should appear, and 
show cause why an attachment for contempt 
should not be awarded against him on the ground 
that he had refused to obey a writ issued to him, 
detained an original paper belonging to the court, 
and imprisoned the judge." On the 24th, the 
General's appearance being entered, Mr. Reid^ 
his aid-de camp informed the court that he came 
prepared with an answer showing cause, (and 
supported by affidavit,) wherefore the rule should 
be discharged. The Judge observed that if 
within any of the Rules laid down by the court, 
it should be heard, otherwise not. 

If, said he, the party object to the jurisdiction 
of the Court, he shall be heard : 

If it be a denial of facts; or that the facts 
charged do not amount to a contempt, he shall be 
keard: 



259 

if it be an apology to the Court; or an intention 
to show, that by the constitution and laws of the 
United States, or by virtue of his military com- 
missidn, he had a right to act as charged, the 
court will hear him. 

After some discussion, Major Reid was per- 
mitted to commence reading the answer. But 
having come to that part of it, setting forth the 
necessity and consequent fitness to declare martial 
law, he was, it is said, stopped by the Judge, 
because that fart of it did not fall under any of 
the Rules laid down by the court. 

Notwithstanding the rules of the court, some 
might be disposed to venture upon the gratifica- 
tion of reading over the General's defence of his 
conduct; and accordingly the gravamen thereof 
is submitted for their perusal. 

Without submitting to the jurisdiction of the 
court, or acknowledging the regularity of its pro- 
ceedings, but expressly denying the same — The 
respondent, in order to give a fair and true ex- 
position of his conduct, on every occasion in 
which it may be drawn into question — 

Saith— 

That previously to, and soon after^^s arrival 
in this section of the seventh military district, he 
received several letters and communications, put- 
ting him on his guard against a portion of the in- 
habitants of the state, the legislature, and foreign 
23 



260 

emissaries m the city. The population of the 
country was represented as divided by political 
parties and national prejudices; a great portion of 
them attached to foreign powers and disaffected 
to the government of their own country, and 
some, as totally unworthy of confidence. The 
militia was described as resisting the authority 
of their commander-in-chief, and encouraged in 
their disobedience by the legislature; and the 
whole state in such a situation as to make it ne- 
cessary to look for defence principally from the 
regular troops, and the militia from ©ther states. 
Among those representations, the most important, 
from the official station of the writer, were those 
of the governor. On the 8th of August, 1814, he 
says — 

"I know that there are many faithful citizens 
in New Orleans : but there are others, in whose 
attachment to the United States / ought not to 
confide. Upon the whole, sir, I cannot disguise 
the fact, &c." 

Again on the 12th of the same month, the res- 
pondent was told — 

"On the native Americans, and a vast majority 
of the Creoles of the country, I place much 
confidence, nor do I doubt the fidelity of many 
Europeans, who have long resided in the coun- 
try ; but there are others, much devoted to the 
interest of Spain, and whose partiality to the 



261 

English is not less observable than their dislike- 
to the American government." 

After detailing subsequent communications of a 
tenor no less alarming, th Geeneral proceeded to 
say, with the Impressions this correspondence 
was calculated to produce, the respondent arriv- 
ed in this city, where, in difterent conversations, 
the same ideas were enforced, and he was advis- 
ed, not only by the governor of the state, but by 
very many influential persons, to proclaim mar- 
tial LAW, as the only means of producing union, 
overcoming disaffection, detecting treason, and 
calling forth the energies of the country. This 
measure was discussed and recommended to 
the respondent, as he well recollects, in the 
presence of the judge of this honourable court, 
who not only made no objection, hut seemed^ by. 
his gestures and silence, to approve of it being 
adopted. These opinions, respectable in them- 
selves, derived greater weight from that which 
the governor expressed, of the legislature then in 
session. He represented their fidelity as very 
doubtful; and appeared extremely desirous that 
they should adjourn. 

The respondent had also been jnformed, that in 
the house of representatives, the idea that a very 
considerable part of the state belonged to the 
l^panish government, and ought not to be repre- 
sented, had been openly advocated, and favoura- 
bly heard. The co-operation of the Spaniards 



262 

with the English, was, at that time, a reeeive^ 
impression. This intimation, therefore; appear- 
ed highly important. He determined to examine, 
with the utmost care, all the facts that had been 
communicated to him ; and not to move upon the 
advice he had received, until the clearest demon- 
stration should have determined its propriety. 
He was then almost an entire stranger, in the 
place he was sent to defend, and unacquainted 
with the language of a majority of its inhabitants. 
While these circumstances were unfavourable to 
his obtaining information, on the one hand, they 
precluded, on the other, a suspicion that his mea- 
sures were dictated by personal friendship, pri- 
vate animosity, or party views. Uninfluenced 
by such motives, he began his observations. He 
sought for information, and to obtain it, communi- 
cated with men of every description. He be- 
lieved that even then he discovered those high 
qualities, which have since distinguished those 
brave defenders of their country: — that the va- 
riety of language, the difference of habit, and 
even the national prejudices, which seemed to 
divide the inhabitants, might be made, if properly 
directed, the source of the most honourable emu- 
lation. Delicate attentions were necessary to 
foster this disposition; and the highest energy, to 
restrain the effects, that such an assemblage was 
calculated to produce ; he determined to avail 
himself of both, and with this vieWj he called to 



263 

his aid, the impulse of national feeling, the hlghfif 
motives of patriotic sentiment, and the noble en- 
thusiasm of valour. They operated in a manner 
which history will record; all who could be in- 
fluenced by those feelings, rallied, — without de- 
lay, round the standard of their country. Their 
efforts, however, would have been unavailing, if 
the disaffected had been permitted to counteract 
them by their treason, the timid to paralyze thepi 
by their example, and both to stand aloof in the 
hour of danger, and enjoy the fruits of victory, 
without participating in the danger of defeat. 

All the acts indeed, mentioned in the rule, took 
place after the enemy had retired from the posi- 
tion they had first assumed — after they had met 
with a signal defeat, and after an unofficial ac- 
count had been received of the signature of a 
treaty of peace. Each of these circumstance^ 
might be, to one who did not see the whole 
ground, a sufficient reason for supposing that 
further acts of energy and vigour were unnecessa,- 
ry. On the mmd of the respondent they had a 
different effect. The enemy had retired from 
their position, it is true; but they were still on the 
coast, and within a few hours' sail of the city« 
They had been defeated, ^nd with loss; but that 
loss was to be repaired by expected reinforce- 
ments. Their numbers still much more than 
quadrupled all the regular forces which the re^ 
23* 



264 

pondent could commmand ; and the term of set% 
vice of his most efficient militia force was about 
to expire. Defeat, to a powerful and active 
enemy, was more likely to operate as an incen- 
tive to renewed and increased exertion, than to 
inspire them with despondency, or to paralyze 
their efforts. A treaty, it is true, had been pro- 
bably signed ; yet it might not be ratified. Its 
contents had not transpired, and no reasonable 
conjecture could be formed, that it would be 
acceptable. The influence which the account of 
its signature had on the army, was deleterious in 
the extreme, and showed a necessity for increas- 
ed energy, instead of a relaxation of discipline. 
Men, who had shown themselves zealous in the 
preceding part of the campaign, now became 
lukewarm in the service. Those whom no danger 
could appal, and no labour discourage, complain- 
ed of the hardships of the camp. When the 
enemy were no longer immediately before them, 
they thought themselves ©ppressed, by being 
detained in service. Wicked and weak men, who, 
from their situation in life, ought to have furnish- 
ed a better example, secretly encouraged this 
spirit of insubordination. They affected to pity 
the hardships of those who were kept in the field; 
they fomented discontent by insinuatir^g that the 
merits of those to whom they addressed them- 
selves, had not been sufficiently noticed or ap- 
plauded*, and to so high a degree bad the disor,- 



265 

der at length arisen, that at one period, only fif^ 
teen men and one officer, out of a whole regiment, 
stationed to guard the very avenue through which 
the enemy had penetrated the country, were 
found at their post. At another point equally 
important, a whole corps, on which the greatest 
reliance had been placed, worked upon by the 
arts of a foreign agent, suddenly deserted their 
post. 

If, trusting to an uncertain peace, the respond- 
ent had revoked his proclamation, or ceased to 
act under it, the fatal security by which we were 
lulled, might have destroyed all discipline, have 
dissolved all his force, and left him without any 
means of defending the country against the ene- 
my, instructed, by the traitors within our own 
bosom, of the time and place at which they 
might safely make an attack. In such an event, 
his own life might have been offered up; yet it 
would have been but a feeble expiation, for the 
disgrace and misery, into which, by his criminal 
negligence, he had permitted the country to be 
plunged. 

He thought peace a probable, but by no means 
a certain event. If it had really taken place, a 
few days must bring the official advice of it; and 
he believed it better to submit, during those few 
days, to the salutary restraints imposed, than to 
put every thing dear to ourselves and country at 
risk upon an uncertain contingency. Admit the 



266 

chances to have been a hundred or a thousand io 
one in favour of the ratification, and against any 
renewed attempts of the enemy; what should we 
say or think of the prudence of the man, who 
would stake his life, his fortune, his country, and 
his honour, even with such odds in his favour, a- 
gainst a few days' anticipated enjoyment of the 
blessings of peace ? The respondent could not 
bring himself to play so deep a hazard; uninflu- 
enced by the clamours of the ignorant and the de- 
signing, he continued the exercise of tnat law 
which necessity had compelled him to proclaim; 
and he still thinks himself justified, by the situa- 
tion of affairs, for the course which he adopted 
and pursued. Has he exercised this power wan- 
tonl}? or improperly? If so, he is liable; not, as 
he believes, to this honourable court for contempt, 
but to his government for an abuse of power, 
and to those individuals whom he has injured, in 
damages proportioned to that injury. JVow then it 
was fyc. To have silently looked on such an offence 
without making any attempt to punish it, would 
have been a formal surrender of all discipline, all 
order, all personal dignity and public safety. 
This could not be done; and the respondent im- 
mediately ordered the arrest of the offender. A 
writ of habeas corpus was directed to issue for 
his enlargement. The very case which had been 
foreseen, the very contingency on which martial 
law was^ intended to operate^ had now occurred 



267 

The civil magistrate seemed to think it his duty 
to enforce the enjoyment of civil rights, although 
the consequences which have been described^ 
would probably have resulted. An unbending 
sense of what he seemed to think his station re- 
quired, induced him to order the liberation of thej 
prisoner. This, under the respondent's sense of 
duty, produced a conflict which it was his wish to 
avoid. 

No other course remained, than to enforce the 
principles which he laid down as his guide, and 
to suspend the exercise of this judicial power, 
wherever it interfered with the necessary means 
of defence. The only way effectually to do this, 
was to place the judge in a situation in which his 
interference could not counteract the measures of 
defence, or give countenance to the mutinous dis- 
position that had shown itself in so alarming s^ 
degree. Merely to have disregarded the writ, 
would but have increased the evil, and to have o- 
beyed it, was wholly repugnant to the Respondent's 
ideas of the public safety, and to his own sense 
of duty. The judge was therefore removed bcr 
yond the lines of defence. 

The General closed in the following terms :-*«• 
"This was the conduct of the respondent, and 
these the motives which prompted it. They 
have been fairly and openly exposed to this 
tribunal, and to the world, and would uot have 
been accompanied by any exception or waiver of 



268 

jurisdiction, if it had been deemed expedient to 
give him that species of trial, to which he thinks 
himself entitled, by the constitution of his country. 
The powers which the exigency of the times 
forced him to assume, have been exercised ex- 
clusively for the public good; and, by the blessing 
of God, they have been attended with unparal- 
leled success. They have saved the country; 
and whatever may be the opinion of that country, 
or the decrees of its courts, in relation to the 
means he has used, he can never regret that he 
employed them." 



As the reasoning of the defence would not be 
entertained by the court, the rule was rendered 
absolute, and the attachment was sued out, and 
made returnable On the 31st. Upon that day the 
General appeared at the bar in the common dress 
of a private citizen. Rapturous acclamation 
rung the hall the instant he was recognized. 
The uproar became so obstreperous that the Judge 
rising from his seat expressed his inability to 
proceed ; but the General addressing the peo- 
ple, quelled the tumult and established silence. 

Nineteen interrogatories were propounded to 
him, whereby to determine his culpability or 
innocence; but the General declined to make any 
explanation in addition to that which he had 
already presented, saying, "you would not hear 
my defence, although you were advised it con- 



269 

famed nothing improper, but ample reasons why 
no attachment should be awarded. Under these 
circumstances I appear before you, to reoeive 
the sentence of the court, having nothing more 
in my defence to offer. Your honor will not 
understand me as intending any disrespect to the 
court; but as no opportunity has been afforded 
me of explaining the motives by which I was 
influenced, so it is expected, that censure or 
reproof will constitute no part of that sentence 
which you may imagine it your duty to pro- 
nounce." Whereupon he was amerced in the sum 
of one thousand dollars. 

No sooner was the judgment delivered than 
he was encompassed by the crowd, and borne 
from the hall amidst peals of applause and huz- 
zas for Jackson. Meeting a carriage in which a 
lady was riding, they prevailed upon her to quit 
her seat, and by main force, constrained the Ge- 
neral to occupy her room: and then unyoking the 
horses, drew the carriage to the entrance into the 
coffee-house, whither he was followed by multi- 
tudes. Having obtained a hearing, he implored 
them to observe moderation, and repress their 
bursts of feeling; and assured them that their 
gratitude for his exertions in their service could 
be shewn in no form else so acceptably to him as 
by assenting to the decision of the court, to which 
he had himself respectfully bowed. He told 
them that the civil authority was paramount, and 



270 

should be supreme in the land. — that he had n^ 
verf held a different principle, — that if he had 
neglected to obey its precepts, it was only be- 
cause he found them too feeble for the peculiar 
state of the times — that by a resort to martial 
law, he had succeeded in defending and protects 
ing a country, which without it must have been 
lost; and that yet under its provisions he was un- 
conscious of oppressing any, or extending them 
to other purposes than of defence and safety, ob- 
jects alone designed to be maintained by its de- 
claration. "1 feel sensible, he said, of the person- 
al regard you have evinced towards me; and with 
pleasure remember those high efforts of valour 
and patriotism which so essentially contributed to 
the defence of the country. If recent events 
have shown you what fearless valour can effect, it 
is a no less important truth to learn that submis- 
sion to the civil authority is the first duty of a ci- 
tizen. In the arduous necessity imposed on me, 
of defending this important and interesting city, 
imperious circumstances compelled me either to 
jeopardise those important interests which were 
confided to me, or to take upon myself the res- 
ponsibility of those measures which have been 
termed high handed, but which I thought abso- 
lutely essential to defence. Thus situated, I did 
not hesitate — I could not. I risked all consequen- 
ces; and you have seen me meet the penalty of 
my aggression, and bow with submission to the 



271 

sentence of the law. Had the penalty imposed 
reached the utmost extent of my ability to meet 
it, I should not have murmured or complained; 
nor now when it is ended, would I forbear a simi- 
lar course, were the same necessity and circum- 
stances again to recur. If the offence with which 
I am now charged had not been committed, the 
laws by which I have been punished would not 
now exist: sincerely do I rejoice in their mainte- 
nance and safety, although the first vindication 
of their violated supremacy has been evinced in 
the punishment of myself. The order and de- 
corum manifested by y.ou, amidst various circum- 
stances of strong excitement, merits my warmest 
ackno^vledgments. I pray you permit that mo- 
deration to continue. If you have any regard 
for me, you will not do otherwise than yield 
respect to the justice of the country, and to the 
character of its ministers; that feeling and dispo- 
sition will, I trust, always characterise you; and 
evince on your part, as firm a disposition to main- 
tain inviolate and unimpaired the laws of the coun- 
try, as you have recently shown to defend your- 
selves against invasion and threatened outrage.'' 
These expressions of friendly acknovrjedge- 
mentand admonition, being repeated in the French 
^ongue, by Mr. Davasac, appeased the boiling 
indignation of the crowd, who admiring the Gen- 
eral's magnanimity, had the good sense to be 
guided by his instructions. 



272 

Intimation having been made to the General 
that the citizens of New Orleans were abont to 
colltct hy subscription, the amount of the fine 
imposed upon him, in order to discharge it; he in 
secret baste paid into the hands of the marshal 
the amount of money which the court had fixed 
for his atonement When the spontaneous offer 
of gratitude was presented him, declining its ac- 
ceptance because unnecessary, he proposed that 
it should be distributed among the distressed 
families of the gallant men who had fallen in the 
protection of the city. 

Thus gloriously terminated in the overthrow 
of a powerful, high spirited, and well appoint- 
ed enemy, the train of successes that followed' 
the General's footsteps in his march to fame : 
and scarcely has he compassed the grand achieve- 
ment, which caused the world to ring w^ith his 
renown, when we behold him deferring to his 
country's laws, and embellishing that noble de- 
ference with a generous proposal of tender hu- 
manity, — in either instance reducing with a tint 
of softness, the striking brilliancy of his illustri- 
trious character. 

f • I'ANTUM. i -^ 

•1 ^ 



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